What have all the headline-grabbing commercial rocket launches of the past few years achieved? They’ve put satellites in space to perform scientific research, such as Nasa’s “Tropics” mission to better understand the link between climate change and tropical storms. New Zealand-founded Rocket Lab launched four small CubeSats into space for this mission from Māhia Peninsula in May 2023.
Though many are turned off by the way Elon Musk has mixed politics and tech in becoming US President Donald Trump’s right-hand man, Musk’s SpaceX Starlink satellite broadband service now has about 40,000 subscribers in New Zealand accessing high-speed internet in areas beyond the reach of copper, fibre and wireless connections.
SpaceX and others have also been quietly building constellations of satellites that act as cell towers in space.
I spent the summer diverting off highways around the North Island in search of mobile black spots to test One NZ’s mobile-to-satellite service. It was a harder task than I’d imagined. Although 40% of the country is without mobile coverage, you have to venture well off the beaten track to find a spot where patchy coverage doesn’t waft in from time to time.
I sent my first text via satellite from outside my friend’s house in Whareama in the Wairarapa a few weeks ago. Just as you would connect to a mobile network while roaming in another country, my Oppo Find X8 smartphone picked up SpaceX’s 4G cell tower mounted to a satellite passing about 550km overhead. A little “R” symbol beside the coverage bars on my phone screen indicated I was now on the SpaceX network.
Sometimes, texts were dispatched and received immediately. Other times, there was a delay of 30-90 seconds as the phone searched for a satellite to connect to. Best results were achieved with a completely clear view of the sky, though I was able to send a satellite text from the window of my inner-city Wellington apartment by manually selecting SpaceX in my phone’s settings.
When coverage was good, I could see the received icon in my text messaging app, and little wavering bubbles to show my friend was responding. That’s a crucial factor. It’s one thing to send a cry for help in an emergency. You really want to know that it has been received and help is on the way.
As more satellites are added to SpaceX’s network, the lag in sending messages will decrease and voice calls and data transfers will eventually be possible, too.
Satellite-to-mobile, which 2degrees and Spark also plan to launch, won’t do away with the need for personal locator beacons for hikers venturing deep into our national parks, or boaties who can now use One NZ’s text service up to 20km out to sea.
But for the many people living and working in patchy coverage areas, the safety net of being able to text a friend from almost anywhere is incredibly valuable. Apple users with an iPhone 14 or newer device have been able to send emergency SOS texts for the last couple of years and also to plot their location via the Find My app on their phone and share it with an emergency contact.
One NZ’s satellite-to-mobile service is compatible with a range of late-model devices. I also successfully texted Samsung’s new Galaxy S25. One NZ subscribers on a pay-monthly plan can send and receive texts via satellite at no extra cost.
About 20 years ago, I made an Inmarsat satellite phone call at an eye-watering cost of $10 a minute. The satellite constellations in orbit and those yet to be launched will make low-cost connectivity a reality for virtually every inch of the globe.
