The Federal Communications Commission has granted permission to Starlink and T-Mobile to activate their satellite texting service for Florida residents prior to Hurricane Milton’s arrival. In an announcement on X, SpaceX confirmed that Starlink’s Direct to Cell satellites will provide emergency alerts for all phones and carriers in affected areas, along with enabling basic texting for T-Mobile subscribers, including text-to-911 capabilities during the storm. Direct to Cell service has also been activated in North Carolina, where many cell towers were impacted by Hurricane Helene. Although the service is still in the testing phase, users can connect to a Starlink satellite if they see “T-Mobile SpaceX” as their network name with one to two bars of signal. SpaceX advises users to resend messages manually if needed and to use the service outdoors or near a window if indoors. In response to the hurricanes, SpaceX is delivering over 10,000 Starlink kits while aiming to fully deploy their messaging service later this year.
