C. Scott Brown / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Satellite SOS on the Pixel 9 is being implemented with the help of Non-Terrestrial Network company Skylo.
- Skylo licenses spectrum from satellite operators, who relay your signals back down to ground base stations.
- By using standards defined in 3GPP Release 17, the Pixel 9’s modem can talk to satellites without any specialized hardware.
Google just delivered a powerful new safety tool today with the launch of the Pixel 9 series, the first Android phones to support the company’s Satellite SOS service. With it, Pixel users in need of help can send messages to emergency services even when they’re without a cellular or Wi-Fi signal, all through the help of overhead satellites. But how exactly is that all happening?
To connect the Pixel 9 with satellites, Google turned to Skylo, which operates a Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN). That’s a company you might recognize if you’ve been following earlier experiments with smartphone satellite connectivity, as Skylo is the firm that worked with Bullitt on its satellite offerings like the Motorola Defy Satellite Link.
Skylo makes deals with the companies that own and operate satellites, licensing spectrum for smartphone and IoT connectivity. And earlier this year, Skylo announced that its network was ready to start offering access across the US and Canada. Phones are able to talk to satellites by using standards set up in 3GPP Release 17, which expands 5G to a narrowband format appropriate for NTNs — and Google has implemented just that in the Pixel 9’s Tensor G4 chip.
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The satellites themselves don’t end up doing very much, and are largely just relays that bounce your transmissions back down to Earth. Here, they’re picked up by Skylo’s Radio Access Network (RAN), which can then finally get your emergency message routed to the appropriate authorities. And because all this is happening through an extension of 5G, it works without any extra hardware or antennas needed for your phone — the modem just needs to support the right standard.
Parth Trivedi, Skylo’s co-founder and CEO, emphasizes the collaborative effort bringing Satellite SOS to the Pixel 9 involved, saying, “Skylo is honored to be the satellite service partner for Google Pixel. Our service has been meticulously developed with both the Pixel and Android teams at Google as well as all our supporting ecosystem partners.”
Satellite SOS on the Pixel 9 will go live in the US sometime later this year.
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