SpaceX announced today that CEO Elon Musk will be be part of a livestream event on August 25 that will be hosted at the company’s Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas.
What makes the event special is that Musk will be joined by T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert, who according to SpaceX will be alongside Musk to “provide a public update announcing how T-Mobile and SpaceX will work together to increase connectivity.” The event will start at 7:00pm CT on Thursday.
Musk didn’t provide any further details on what exactly will be announced, but did hype it up by saying on Twitter “This is something special.”
This is something special https://t.co/LSMIRYT8zf
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 24, 2022
That is the extent of the details we know about the event on Thursday, but a recent filing by SpaceX with the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) gives us a hint as to what the new partnership might entail.
Last month we told you that SpaceX sent an application to the FCC to operate a “mobile satellite service.” This service would use the company’s satellite network to send data to mobile device users on the ground using the 2GHz spectrum, bypassing traditional cellular base stations.
This would prove to be especially useful in rural areas where there is limited cellular service, with SpaceX noting in the application that it would be “in the public interest” for it to be approved, adding that it would also have “significant national security benefits.”
SpaceX has the technology to pull this off after acquiring Swarm in July 2021, a company that develops nano-satellites capable of supplying internet connectivity to the Internet of Things devices, including cell phones.
We will find out more tomorrow and bring you all the details as they are announced . SpaceX has already setup the livestream for it on YouTube, which you can find here.
