If your phone connects to a Starlink satellite instead of the usual antenna, you’ll see 1 to 2 bars of service, and the network name will be “T-Mobile SpaceX,” according to SpaceX. You might have to retry text messages if they don’t go through, and SpaceX says the service works “best outdoors” and “occasionally works indoors near a window.”

T-Mobile and SpaceX announced plans to start using the Starlink satellites to provide space-based coverage for T-Mobile's network back in 2022. While the service was aimed at filling in dead zones that otherwise couldn't be covered by terrestrial networks, it's quickly proving to be valuable for connecting people during national emergencies.

Starlink is being used to provide wireless emergency alerts to cell phones from all carriers in North Carolina, according to Ben Longmier, senior director of satellite engineering for SpaceX. "We are also closely monitoring Hurricane Milton and standing by ready to take action in Florida," he wrote.

The approval allows SpaceX to use radio frequencies leased from T-Mobile to provide what's called "Supplemental Coverage from Space" beamed from Starlink's low-Earth orbit satellite constellation.

SpaceX's Starlink service and T-Mobile have been granted temporary emergency capabilities to give those affected by the storm access to mobile coverage via satellites.

Starlink's direct-to-cell satellite service for emergency alerts goes online in North Carolina as Florida braces for Hurricane Milton this week.

A direct-to-cell service based on Starlink’s satellites and T-Mobile’s cellular network has been approved by the United States Federal Communications Commission (FTC). The regulator granted SpaceX a temporary clearance for Starlink’s direct-to-cell service,

To support recovery efforts in areas devastated by Hurricane Helene, SpaceX, and T-Mobile have temporarily deployed Starlink Cellular, providing emergency alerts and limited texting services. The Federal

Nearly a billion dollars in rural broadband subsidies wouldn't go amiss The Chairman of the US House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, James Comer, is investigating the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) decision to revoke an award of almost $900 million in rural broadband subsidies to Elon Musk's Starlink.