Starlink to begin testing satellite-to-cellular service ‘this year’

Elon Musk’s Starlink has been working on its satellite-to-cellular offering, and the company is now reportedly ready to test the service.

Last summer, Musk and T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert had announced “Coverage Above and Beyond,” a joint initiative that aimed to bring Starlink satellite coverage compatible with T-Mobile devices. Now, during a panel at the Satellite Conference and Exhibition 2023, Jonathan Hofeller, the vice president of Starlink enterprise sales said that the company plans to “start getting into testing.”

“We’re going to learn a lot by doing — not necessarily by overanalyzing — and getting out there, working with the telcos,” said Hofeller.

Hofeller: SpaceX plans to "start getting into testing" its Starlink satellite-to-cell service "this year."

— Michael Sheetz (@thesheetztweetz) March 13, 2023

While Hofeller did not mention which carrier service it plans to work with, the timeline does match Musk’s original vision for the T-Mobile partnership. In August last year, Musk announced that Starlink and T-Mobile are joining forces to connect smartphones to satellites and eliminate dead zones “worldwide.”

At the time, T-Mobile said the satellite-to-cell service will be available “everywhere in the continental U.S, Hawaii, parts of Alaska, Puerto Rico and territorial waters” and is expected to launch by the end of next year [2023] in “select areas.” Read more about the partnership here.