Apple and Huawei offered communication systems using satellites last year that allow sending SMS in emergency situations. This requires the device to have a special chip and modem to communicate with satellites in space. Yesterday AST SpaceMobile in collaboration with AT&T made history after successfully making two-way cellular voice calls directly to satellites in space.
Voice calls were made from Texas in the United States to Rakuten in Japan using an unmodified Samsung Galaxy S22. This is achieved using a direct cellular connection to AST SpaceMobile's BlueWalker 3 (BW3) satellite located in low earth orbit. The cellular system used requires a telecommunications tower to connect voice calls to satellites in space to make transcontinental calls.
AST SpaceMobile says that with their technology, 50% percent of users without cellular access around the world can make satellite technology voice calls using existing devices. In addition, in the tests carried out, the same system can also support 4G and 5G broadband internet networks.
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