- Elon Musk stated SpaceX’s Starlink will provide free emergency providers entry to cellphones.
- The declare got here as SpaceX seeks FCC approval for its direct-to-cellular Starlink expertise.
Elon Musk on Tuesday stated SpaceX’s Starlink, Musk’s satellite tv for pc web service, would permit individuals stranded within the wilderness to entry emergency providers on their cellphones totally free.
The SpaceX CEO made the feedback in an X put up as the corporate, in partnership with T-Mobile, presently seeks approval from the Federal Communications Commission to function its direct-to-cellular Starlink expertise commercially.
SpaceX says the satellite-based service would supply supplemental cell protection to Americans from house that might shut cell “lifeless zones.” Cellular service suppliers AT&T and Verizon have raised issues concerning the expertise, together with that it could disrupt their very own cell networks.
In a letter to the FCC on Friday, SpaceX stated the service would join first responders in quite a lot of environments and would be capable of ship wi-fi emergency alerts to everybody — not simply T-Mobile prospects — in locations the place there is no such thing as a earth-based mobile protection.
The firm urged the FCC to authorize it to function the satellites commercially, “connecting Americans in locations which have by no means had cell service earlier than.”
In an X put up on Tuesday, Musk emphasised the wi-fi emergency alert system and stated it may “assist lots of people if they’re stranded within the wilderness.”
“After pondering it via, SpaceX Starlink will present emergency providers entry for cell phones for individuals in misery totally free,” Musk stated in a observe up put up. “This applies worldwide, topic to approval by nation governments. Can’t have a scenario the place somebody dies as a result of they forgot or have been unable to pay for it.”
It’s unclear how precisely the emergency providers would work. SpaceX didn’t reply to a request for remark from Business Insider.
Musk’s put up might have been geared toward interesting to the FCC as they think about approval of the direct-to-cellular service.
Brendan Carr, a Republican FCC commissioner, reacted positively to the announcement, responding in an X put up: “Direct to cell expertise will actually profit public security communications and first responders.”
The satellite-based emergency service could possibly be much like Apple’s Emergency SOS service that is out there on newer iPhones. The function permits iPhones which can be out of mobile vary to request assist from emergency providers by way of satellite tv for pc, amongst different options.
Apple’s Emergency SOS function is out there on iPhone 14 and 15 fashions and is free for 2 years after activating the telephone. The function has been utilized all over the world, together with by hikers who have been stranded in an Oregon forest and a pair who drove off a cliff in California.
