• T-Mobile and SpaceX have teamed up to deliver Starlink internet.
• The corporation of Elon Musk has been given permission to launch 7,500 satellites.
• Starlink from SpaceX has been supplying internet access to Ukraine amid the conflict.

In the upcoming years, Starlink, SpaceX's satellite-based broadband internet system, may become much more widely available. Over the course of the next ten years, the Elon Musk-owned company will reportedly launch an additional 7,500 satellites, bringing the total number of low-orbiting satellites in the Starlink broadband network to over 10,000. 

Users will be able to access the satellite-based broadband service directly via their cellphones thanks to the new Starlink satellites without the need for any specialised hardware.

According to a CNET article, T-Mobile, a US network carrier, will assist SpaceX in providing the service to customers. According to reports, the spacecraft manufacturer submitted a request on December 6 to the US Federal Communications Commission for approval to equip some of its Starlink satellites with 'direct-to-cellular' technology. 

When Starlink's broadband services are live, this will enable smartphone users to immediately use them. T-Mobile and SpaceX teamed up back in August to offer mobile subscribers internet connectivity in off-the-grid areas of the US. Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX, and Mike Sievert, the CEO of T-Mobile, have jointly announced their cooperation at SpaceX's Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas. 

The project would do away with mobile towers by connecting phones directly to SpaceX's satellites. The service would reportedly launch with text message support in the second half of 2023, followed by voice and broadband services. Over the next ten years, SpaceX has been given the go-ahead to launch an extra 7,500 satellites, according to a CNET article. 

The 3,500 first generation Starlink satellites already in orbit will be supplemented by these second generation satellites. SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket in August carrying 46 Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit. Another notable accomplishment of SpaceX's Starlink is the provision of satellite internet in conflict-affected areas of Ukraine. However, the nation had previously stated that it was also looking for more providers to offer consistent internet service across the nation.