SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced on Twitter that he has achieved a maximum download speed of 17 Mbps from the Starlink satellite to an unmodified Samsung Android phone.
«SpaceX has just achieved a maximum download speed of 17 Mbps from a satellite directly to an unmodified Samsung Android phone», — Musk writes.
In further comments, answering questions, the CEO of SpaceX/Starlink clarifies what this means.
«This is the current peak speed per beam, and the beams are large, so this system is only effective where there is no cellular coverage. This service works in partnership with wireless providers, as announced by SpaceX and T-Mobile».
As a reminder, in August 2022 SpaceX and mobile operator T-Mobile announce cooperation with the aim of using Starlink satellites to get rid of «dead zones» in cellular network coverage. At that time, it was planned that conventional 5G smartphones would be able to connect to Starlink satellites at 2-4 Mbps in certain coverage areas. As you can see, this figure was significantly exceeded in this particular case.
In January 2024 SpaceX and T-Mobile send and receive first text messages to phones using Starlink D2D satellites, which were launched a week earlier. At the time, SpaceX said that, together with T-Mobile, it wants to publicly launch mobile satellite text in 2024, and next year expand satellite telephony capabilities with voice communications.