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The hardware for this, is as far as we know, not on any of the currently flying satellites. They were explicitly downsized to fit on Falcon 9 and thusly named "v2 mini". Most likely the major thing stripped off was the large folding antenna that would be required for cell phone signal.

The move from 60 to 22 (or 21) satellites was to maximize the normal Starlink service on the satellites. (21 are on board when launched from the west coast and 22 are on board when launched from the east coast.)




There was an article recently saying that they'd be testing the service in December [1]. I would've taken that to mean that the hardware is up there and just undergoing preparation, but this is SpaceX, they launch like every 4 days, I guess they very well can have not launched the ones with this functionality yet.

[1] Can't find the one I had read, but this one published just a few minutes ago also mentions this https://cordcuttersnews.com/spacexs-starlink-is-looking-for-...


I’m not seeing your claim in that linked article unless I missed it. It talks about v2 satellites, which have yet to launch.


Search for "December" in the text. Unless you're referring to the bit about if the satellites are already up there, which is just my own thoughts rather than a statement of fact.


Okay I see that now, but I think that's referring back to earlier in the article where it says:

> The companies had targeted beta trials at the end of this year following the launch of Starlink V2 satellites, according to CNET.

Which also contains a link to an article from 2022 that was published during the original announcement of the T-Mobile partnership. However those satellites didn't get launched because of the delays of Starship.




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