So SpaceX and T-Mobile have announced a partnership that will allow any T-Mobile handset to communicate from anywhere in the world to anywhere, without the need for additional equipment such as a dish. The claim is that a 5G phone, whose bands will be supported by Starlink V2, will just connect to Starlink V2. Starlink V2 uses laser links between the satellites, thus they can switch calls around the orbiting network, without the need for ground station bouncing. This is going to increase the value proposition for Starlink. The catch is that Starlink V2 satellite constellation is going to be deployed by Starship, via the Pez dispenser which is already designed and being built into some Starship payload bays. So Starlink is imperative to the plan, although Elon has said they have plans for a Starlink V2 mini, which will be able to be launched on existing Falcon 9 deployment ships.
Scott Manley has an excellent presentation on this on his Utube channel.
What does this mean for astronomy, well many many more, larger V2 Starlink satellites in coming years, in exchange for low latency communications anywhere.
Announcement here:
https://www.t-mobile.com/news/un-car...nd-with-spacex
