Text messages from space

 PC Magazine:

It works: SpaceX’s cellular Starlink system has successfully relayed text messages to and from smartphones on the ground.

SpaceX announced the achievement today, a week after the company launched six Starlink satellites that are designed to operate as orbiting cell towers in space. "On Monday, January 8, less than 6 days after launch, we sent and received our first text messages to and from unmodified cell phones on the ground to our new satellites in space using T-Mobile network spectrum,” the company said in a report.

SpaceX didn’t elaborate on the test, such as the speeds, latency, or other limitations. But the company did publish a photo showing two iPhones using the Starlink satellite to relay the text messages, although it looks like one of the sent message was lost during the transmissions.
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Still, the report notes that "launch and early tests of the technology were all completed without issue." The company adds that it had overcome serious challenges to transmit the text messages from phone to satellite. This includes how many of today’s consumer smartphones only come with “low gain antennas” meant to connect to nearby cell towers, not satellites orbiting high above.
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In response, SpaceX has been outfitting some Starlink satellites with newly developed equipment that can relay phone signals even while orbiting the Earth at 340 miles away. “Our team developed custom silicon onboard the satellite that is optimized for this application and reduces power and cost on the satellite,” the company wrote. “We also developed large 2.7 m x 2.3 m advanced phased arrays that use extremely sensitive radio receivers and high-powered transmitters for communicating with cell phones from space.”
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This technology could eventually allow text messages from what would otherwise be a remote location far from traditional cell towers.