Musk's SpaceX and T-Mobile plan to connect mobile phones to satellites, boost cell coverage

[titan]

Musk's SpaceX and T-Mobile plan to connect mobile phones to satellites, boost cell coverage​

The new plans, which would exist alongside T-mobile's existing cellular services, would cut out the need for cell towers and offer service for sending texts and images where cell coverage does not currently exist, key for emergency situations in remote areas,
SpaceX Chief Engineer Elon Musk and T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert take part in a joint news conference at the SpaceX Starbase, in Brownsville, Texas, U.S., August 25, 2022.

Musk's SpaceX and T-Mobile plan to connect mobile phones to satellites, boost cell coverage

U.S wireless carrier T-Mobile US Inc will use Elon Musk-owned SpaceX's Starlink satellites to provide mobile users with network access in parts of the United States, the companies announced.

www.reuters.com

Many cellphone users know the frustration of 1 bar to zero bar fringe reception zones.
Not only would implementation of this Musk / Sievert partnership help to reduce that. The implications for emergencies in remote areas may make the difference between life & death.

Critics complain about the impact on our night skies with artificial satellites crowding the natural view of stars & planets. Progress?

 

[sear]

t #1,
Not trying to cyberjack your topic, but I found this little public sector / private sector gem, worth having a look:

NASA will pay Boeing more than twice as much as SpaceX for crew seats​

NASA confirmed Wednesday that it has awarded five additional crew transportation missions to SpaceX, and its Crew Dragon vehicle, to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station. This brings to 14 the total number of crewed missions that SpaceX is contracted to fly for NASA through 2030.

As previously reported by Ars, these are likely the final flights NASA needs to keep the space station fully occupied into the year 2030. While there are no international agreements yet signed, NASA has signaled that it would like to continue flying the orbiting laboratory until 2030, by which time one or more US commercial space stations should be operational in low Earth orbit.

Under the new agreement, SpaceX would fly 14 crewed missions to the station on Crew Dragon, and Boeing would fly six during the lifetime of the station. That would be enough to fill all of NASA's needs, which include two launches a year, carrying four astronauts each. But NASA has an option to buy more seats from either provider.

In its announcement of the seat purchase NASA did not elaborate on its reasons for purchasing 14 missions from SpaceX and just six from Boeing. However, this decision to buy all of the remaining seats from SpaceX is likely due to past performance and price. SpaceX started flying operational missions to the space station in 2020, with the Crew-1 mission. Although Boeing's Starliner has a crewed test flight early next year, likely in February, its first operational mission will not come before the second half of 2023.

NASA will pay Boeing more than twice as much as SpaceX for crew seats

"I don't know whether the business case closes today."

arstechnica.com

I acknowledge the potential for the appearance of bias confirmation here. But this seems to me to be an articulate, persuasive argument for private sector, over public sector (government) expenditure.

The headline:

NASA will pay Boeing more than twice as much as SpaceX​

Seems to me it's the private sector, SpaceX that's the bargain, not NASA.