According to astronautics company SpaceX, T-Mobile customers in areas affected by Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton can now send SMS texts over Starlink satellites. It is being offered on a “best-effort basis” and for free.
“We have now enabled basic texting (SMS) for those on T-Mobile phones in hurricane-affected areas. Text messages have already been sent and received. You can text loved ones, call 911, and continue receiving emergency alerts,” SpaceX says.
SpaceX has advised that if your phone connects to a Starlink satellite instead of the usual antenna, you’ll see one to two 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.”
SpaceX and T-Mobile were granted temporary approval for the direct-to-cell service for areas impacted by Hurricane Helene earlier this week by The Federal Communications Commission, or FCC, where its satellites have been used to deliver emergency alerts to all phones and carriers. Now SpaceX says the FCC “has also rapidly approved emergency special temporary authority for coverage in Florida ahead of Hurricane Milton.”
