Mike Dano, Light Reading, 3/18/2020
Startup Lynk said it successfully transmitted a message from a satellite in space to a standard, Android-powered GSM phone on the ground.
The company said the test shows its technology works – an important milestone along the company's path toward commercializing its offering.
Lynk posted a video of the test, conducted February 24 in a remote location in the Falkland Islands where it would not interfere with other operations. It also linked to a longer version of the video that features some salty language from the company's engineers celebrating the successful test.
Lynk CEO Charles Miller told The Verge the company delivered the transmission from equipment it sent to the International Space Station in December aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Astronauts on the ISS attached the transmitter to a Cygnus cargo spacecraft that remains in orbit.
This is a great milestone. With luck, the tech will scale and become affordable. Once fully deployed, this tech should provide cellular coverage anywhere in the world, connecting to a satellite whenever there is no compatible land-based tower in range.
I would assume that satellite links will have lower bandwidth and higher latency than terrestrial towers, but if it's good enough for voice calls and text messages, then it will allow access to emergency services no matter where in the world you are.
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