The idea is simple: wherever you are on Earth, you can call for emergency help via your smartphone. This should be possible when you don’t have coverage or when there are no cell towers nearby. For example, the feature could be used by people who get lost in the wilderness or at sea. “Someone can’t die because they forgot to push their phone or couldn’t push it,” Musk said.

Apple and Google already offer similar services, with SOS Emergency Notification and Stellar SOS respectively. The big difference is that Starlink aims for global coverage. Apple’s Emergency Satellite feature is currently available in seventeen countries, including the Netherlands, while Google’s is only available in the US so far.

States must give permission.

While the plan sounds promising, there are still some hurdles to overcome. For example, each country must individually agree to use the technology.

It is also Elon Musk’s Word To be taken with a grain of salt. The eccentric tech CEO is known for his sometimes overly optimistic promises.

Collaboration with T-Mobile

SpaceX has yet to set a specific launch date. The company has been testing satellite phone functionality with T-Mobile since 2022. While it’s not yet clear how far the two companies are progressing, SpaceX is continuing to expand its Starlink network. At the time of writing, more than 6,000 Starlink satellites have already been placed in orbit. SpaceX plans to eventually deploy more than 30,000.

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