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新湖畔网 （随信APP) | 马斯克宣布免费！这价值 400 多美元的产品如何在「世纪飓风」中拯救生命
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这个九月与十月，美国东南部一直不太平静，来自墨西哥湾的飓风 Helene 以四级风力席卷了佛罗里达州，半个月后，同样诞生于墨西哥湾的飓风 Milton 也登陆了佛罗里达州，双重飓风接连袭击，当地居民几乎没有喘息的机会。
连绵不断的暴雨与愤怒狰狞的狂风只是开胃菜，飓风过后，除了摧毁基础设施和个人房屋外，中断的通讯同样是不小的麻烦。
为了应对这一紧急状况，马斯克连续宣布两则消息——SpaceX 将为受灾地区提供基于星链系统的手机信号与免费网络。
### 每个人，都能收到来自五百公里外的信号与网络
面对两场飓风的猛击，基础设施遭到破坏，手机信号也跟着消失了。对于现代人来说，手机简直就是生活的命脉，一旦没了信号，瞬间就成了一块只能玩游戏或者刷照片的「摆设」。
为了应对这个问题，SpaceX 宣布将与 T-Mobile 合作，联手为受灾地区的民众提供应急通讯信号，帮助大家在灾难中保持联系，尽可能减少飓风带来的额外麻烦。
据 SpaceX 的介绍，星链卫星已经具备为手机提供基础短信服务的能力。利用目前发射的上百颗可直连智能手机的卫星，向受飓风影响的用户和运营商发送紧急警报。
佛罗里达州的 T-Mobile 用户现在通过这项合作可以连上星链卫星。如果手机成功连接，你会在运营商名称处看到「T-Mobile SpaceX」，虽然信号可能只有一两格，但足够用来发短信联系亲人或寻求医疗帮助，并收到新的警告消息，以应对新的极端情况出现。
不过，由于支持直接连接手机的星链卫星数量还不够多，因此服务能力还比较有限，SpaceX 只能尽最大努力保障应急通信。
此外，SpaceX 还宣布将为受灾地区提供为期一个月的免费网络服务，只要你处于飓风覆盖的地区，不管是新用户还是老用户，都可以免费使用一个月的星链网络，以帮助网络设施被飓风摧毁的地区民众重新连接互联网。
想要提供信号以及网络，需要对天地间看不见的信号频率进行匹配，才能让卫星信号顺利地从宇宙传输到目标设备。
一般来说，手机依赖较低的频段，通常在 700 MHz 到 2600 MHz 之间，比如 700 MHz（低频段）或 1800 MHz 和 2100 MHz（中频段），这些频率支持 LTE 或 5G 网络；而卫星通信使用较高的频段，如 L 频段（1-2 GHz）、S 频段（2-4 GHz）、Ku 频段（12-18 GHz）等，它们能穿透大气层并传输大量数据。
传统的星链网络服务就是通过其中的 Ku 频段（12-18 GHz）、Ka 频段（26.5-40 GHz）以及 V 频段（40-75 GHz），传输网络信号，这些信号频段位于高频范围，能够支持高速数据传输，并具有较强的抗干扰能力，其中 Ku 频段被广泛用于卫星互联网服务，特别是家庭和商用用户，而 Ka 频段则提供更高的数据容量，适合大规模的通信需求。
此外，星链也使用 V 频段（40-75 GHz）来增加容量和提升网络性能，特别是在未来更高密度的通信环境中。这些高频段允许星链提供高速的互联网服务，但也意味着信号在穿透障碍物时可能会有所衰减，因此在较为开阔的环境中才能获得最佳的连接效果。
不过，想要接收这些频段的信号，需要在地面配备一个超过 20 厘米直径的天线。
这也是为什么用户除了订阅网络服务外，还需要购买星链套件，才能顺利使用互联网。
而手机与卫星「握手」，其实也不算什么新鲜事儿了。
现在已经有不少手机支持卫星通信，虽然各大厂商的技术储备和实现方式不同，但总的来说还是沿着一条路在达成与卫星直接通讯：在一定的硬件基础上，通过定制的芯片或是额外硬件，与不同的卫星联络。
不过，SpaceX 和 T-Mobile 选择了另一种更大胆的方案，他们的目标是尽量让现有的所有智能手机都能够直接与卫星建立连接，完全无需额外的硬件支持。
就像天空中的飞机航线和地上的高速公路一样，虽然平时各自为政，互不干扰，但 SpaceX 和 T-Mobile 通过「Direct-to-Cell」技术打破了这道壁垒，让手机和星链卫星能够对话。
想要让手掌上这部方寸大小的设备与天际的卫星联通，有两个关键节点：频段的同步，以及卫星位置。
常见的通讯卫星所用频段一般集中在上面介绍的 Ku、Ka 这些高频段上，但想要接收这些频段的信号，需要在地面配备一个超过 20 厘米直径的天线——但对于手机来讲，这显然不现实。
于是 SpaceX 换了一个思路，既然手机没办法适配卫星，就让卫星适配手机好了。
从 2023 年开始，SpaceX 在发射的星链卫星 v2.0 准备了一个大杀器——一个面积达到 25 平方米的天线，专门为较低频段通信加持，为卫星与手机通讯做好了准备。
SpaceX 与 T-Mobile 这次合作，就用上了这根额外的天线，并选择了 1900 MHz 作为 Direct-to-Cell 技术的承载频段。
1900 MHz 也被称为 PCS 频段（Personal Communications Service），这是星链卫星 v2.0 支持的频段，同时也是手机的常用频段，其传播性能优秀，信号强劲，能够穿透障碍物，且卫星通信范围广，可以覆盖到地面基站无法接入的偏远或受灾地区。
通过频率协调和调制技术，不需要你给手机换啥硬件，星链卫星 v2.0 就能与支持 5G 或 LTE 网络的手机打成一片，轻松实现直接通信。
到目前为止，星链 v2.0 也只发射了一百多颗，这也是为什么 SpaceX 在 X 的帖子中称目前还未完全准备好的原因。
另一边，如果卫星距离地球太远，连接也无法成立。
传统卫星的轨道太高，信号绕地球一圈还得喘口气，延迟大得吓人，完全不适合用于手机通讯，而星链卫星群盘踞在约 550 公里的近地轨道上，信号来得更快，延迟更低，特别适合紧急通信和短消息处理。
在这场连续的飓风之中，星链为受灾地区的群众提供了基础的通讯能力与互联网连接，虽然其中藏了一些「小心思」，但瑕不掩瑜，沿着看不见的信号，递送了不少生命的希望。
2020 年底，星链还是个过于年轻的家伙——发射的 893 颗卫星，还远未完成第一阶段 1600 颗卫星的目标，仅能在北美部分地区提供最高 174Mbps 的下载速度，只有美国空军给它输了一口血，展开了初步合作，而远洋和空中等多元化的使用场景，更是只存在于论证中。
四年过去，星链的全球卫星数已经超过了六千四百颗，翻了快八倍，仿佛在宇宙中编织了一张巨大而隐形的网络，在晴朗的夜空中，用相机长曝光能轻易捕捉到它的轨迹，全球覆盖，已成现实。
2021 年，美国陆军与 SpaceX 签署协议，测试星链在军事网络中的应用，包括数据传输和远程指挥，这是继 2018 年与空军合作后，星链达成的又一军事成就。
不仅如此，星链的身影已经出现在全球海洋之上——到 2023 年底，全球已经有超过 400 艘邮轮已经采用了 SpaceX 的星链系统用于海上互联网服务，其中，世界最大的邮轮运营商嘉年华公司（Carnival Corporation）已经在其旗下的所有邮轮上全面部署了星链系统，覆盖了嘉年华邮轮、公主邮轮和荷美邮轮等品牌。
同时，星链还为美国航空、达美航空和夏威夷航空的部分航班提供空中互联网服务。无论是飞越格陵兰海，还是穿梭在南半球的星空下，乘客们都能畅快地刷视频、接收信息。
从广袤的大海到无垠的沙漠，甚至连极地的南极科考站，曾经的「无信号区」如今都已被星链的网络覆盖。那些曾经只能在会议室里讨论的场景，今天一个个变成了现实。甚至连过去与手机通信的技术瓶颈，也随着星链 v2.0 卫星的发射而迎刃而解。
整个 2024 年，SpaceX 以每月 2 至 3 次、每次 20 至 60 颗卫星的惊人频率不断向太空进发，就在几天前，SpaceX 以「筷子夹火箭」的方式成功回收助推器，这一里程碑式的成就达成的同时，马斯克宣布，这张天网的扩张速度，将会越来越快。
预计在明年年初，SpaceX 将挑战整个星舰的回收，并使用这一巨大的运输系统来发射和部署下一代更大、传输速度更快（下载速度达到 300M 至 900M）且更低延迟的星链卫星。
英文版:
In September and October, the southeastern United States was anything but calm. Hurricane Helene, originating from the Gulf of Mexico, with a wind force of level four, swept through Florida. Half a month later, Hurricane Milton, also born in the Gulf of Mexico, made landfall in Florida. With dual hurricanes striking consecutively, local residents hardly had a chance to catch their breath.
The continuous torrential rain and ferocious winds were just the appetizer. After the hurricanes, besides destroying infrastructure and personal homes, disrupted communication was also a major challenge.
To address this emergency situation, Musk announced two pieces of news in succession—SpaceX will provide mobile signals and free internet based on the Starlink system for the disaster-stricken areas.
Everyone Can Receive Signals and Internet from 500 Kilometers Away
Faced with the ravages of the two hurricanes, infrastructure was destroyed, and mobile signals disappeared. For modern people, the phone is literally a lifeline. Once the signal is lost, it becomes just a "decoration" that can only be used for games or browsing photos.
To solve this problem, SpaceX announced a cooperation with T-Mobile to jointly provide emergency communication signals for the disaster-affected people, helping them stay connected during disasters and reduce the additional troubles caused by hurricanes.
According to SpaceX, the Starlink satellites already have the ability to provide basic SMS services for phones. Using the hundreds of satellites launched, which can directly connect to smartphones, SpaceX will send emergency alerts to users and operators affected by the hurricanes.
T-Mobile users in Florida can now connect to the Starlink satellites through this collaboration. If your phone successfully connects, you will see "T-Mobile SpaceX" in the carrier name. While the signal may only have one or two bars, it is enough to send texts to contact family or seek medical help and receive new alert messages to deal with new extreme conditions.
T-Mobile has tested the emergency satellite alert function multiple times, and has successfully sent test warning messages to phones that can connect to the satellite, including phones from other carriers.
However, due to the limited number of Starlink satellites that support direct connection to phones, the service capacity is still relatively limited, and SpaceX can only do its best to ensure emergency communication.
In addition, SpaceX also announced that it will provide free internet service for the disaster-stricken areas for one month. Whether you are a new or existing user in the hurricane-affected areas, you can use the Starlink network for free for a month to help the local residents reconnect to the internet after their network facilities have been destroyed.
To provide signals and internet, it is necessary to match the invisible signal frequencies between the sky and the earth to smoothly transmit the satellite signal from space to the target device.
Generally, phones rely on lower frequencies, typically between 700 MHz and 2600 MHz, such as 700 MHz (low frequency) or 1800 MHz and 2100 MHz (mid-frequency), which support LTE or 5G networks. On the other hand, satellite communications use higher frequencies, such as the L band (1-2 GHz), S band (2-4 GHz), and Ku band (12-18 GHz), which can penetrate the atmosphere and transmit large amounts of data.
Traditional Starlink network services use the Ku band (12-18 GHz), Ka band (26.5-40 GHz), and V band (40-75 GHz) to transmit network signals. These signal bands are in the high-frequency range, conducive to high-speed data transmission, and have strong anti-interference capabilities. The Ku band is widely used for satellite internet services, especially for home and commercial users, while the Ka band provides higher data capacity suitable for large-scale communication needs.
Additionally, Starlink also uses the V band (40-75 GHz) to increase capacity and improve network performance, especially in future denser communication environments. These high-frequency bands allow Starlink to provide high-speed internet services, but signal attenuation may occur when passing through obstacles, so the best connection effect can be achieved in more open environments.
However, to receive signals from these frequency bands, a ground antenna with a diameter of more than 20 centimeters is required.
This is why users need to purchase a Starlink kit in addition to subscribing to the network service in order to use the internet smoothly.
Moreover, the "handshake" between the phone and the satellite is not something new.
Many phones already support satellite communication. While different manufacturers have different technological reserves and implementation methods, they are all moving towards direct communication with satellites: on a certain hardware basis, through customized chips or additional hardware, to communicate with different satellites.
However, SpaceX and T-Mobile chose a more ambitious approach. Their goal is to allow all existing smartphones to directly connect to satellites without the need for additional hardware support.
Just like the flight routes in the sky and the highways on the ground, which usually operate independently, SpaceX and T-Mobile have broken through this barrier using the "Direct-to-Cell" technology, allowing phones and Starlink satellites to communicate with each other.
To establish a connection between the palm-sized device and the satellites in the sky, there are two key elements: frequency synchronization and satellite positioning.
The common communication satellites use frequency bands concentrated in the high-frequency bands like Ku, Ka, but to receive signals from these bands, a ground antenna with a diameter exceeding 20 centimeters is required—which is obviously not realistic for a phone.
Therefore, SpaceX took a different approach. Since it is not feasible for phones to adapt to satellites, they prepared a killer feature in the Starlink satellites v2.0 launched since 2023—an antenna with an area of 25 square meters, specifically designed for low-frequency communication, to prepare for satellite-to-phone communication.
In this collaboration between SpaceX and T-Mobile, they utilized this additional antenna and selected 1900 MHz as the carrier frequency for the Direct-to-Cell technology.
1900 MHz, also known as the PCS band (Personal Communications Service), is a frequency band supported by Starlink satellites v2.0, as well as commonly used by phones. It has excellent propagation performance, strong signals, can penetrate obstacles, and has a wide range of satellite communication coverage, extending to remote or disaster-affected areas where ground stations cannot access.
Through frequency coordination and modulation technology, without the need for phone hardware changes, Starlink satellites v2.0 can seamlessly communicate with phones supporting 5G or LTE networks, enabling direct communication.
So far, Starlink v2.0 has launched over a hundred satellites. This is also why SpaceX mentioned in X's post that they are not yet fully prepared.
On the other hand, if the satellite is too far from Earth, the connection cannot be established.
Traditional satellites have orbits that are too high, causing the signal to take a long time to circle the earth, resulting in alarming delays and are not suitable for mobile communication. In contrast, the Starlink satellite constellation sits at a low earth orbit of about 550 kilometers, ensuring faster signal delivery and lower latency, especially suitable for emergency communication and short message processing.
When the conditions of frequency synchronization and satellite positioning are met, the signal is sent from each person's phone, passes through Hurricane Milton reaching up to ten kilometers high touching the stratosphere, to the satellites in low earth orbit, reconnecting people to withstand this natural disaster together.
It is worth mentioning that this cosmic support faced some hiccups.
First providing mobile signals to the disaster-stricken areas, followed by offering a month of free internet service to both new and existing users. These two consecutive disaster response measures sounded very promising and had shown clear effects—on social media, the post announcing the free 30-day Starlink network service has surpassed over forty million views.
Actually, it is not difficult to understand why, compared to the temporary signal support provided by SpaceX and T-Mobile, being able to use the internet as usual in the midst of a devastating natural disaster is a lot more attractive.
However, when people were drawn to this post and ready to join the Starlink network service, they realized something was wrong. People discovered on the Starlink official website that to order the Starlink network service from the hurricane-affected areas, the subscription fee was indeed 0, but to join the Starlink network service, you also needed to pay $349 for the Starlink satellite dish, not including shipping, handling, and taxes.
This information was not mentioned in the post, and many disaster-affected people felt angry—it was seen as a trap.
One of the residents in North Carolina, Kinney Baughman, also shared this sentiment, believing it was a ploy:
"The free internet service from Starlink is a bait, they don't really want to help the affected people, but to increase the user base later on."
Moreover, delivery was also a headache—the hurricane had destroyed infrastructure, bridges were broken, roads were blocked, making it extremely difficult to obtain the ordered hardware, coupled with various other reasons, at the moment, it might take up to three weeks to purchase the Starlink kit.
After this time, the network in the disaster-affected areas may have already been restored, and what people waited for could turn out to be a futile effort.
In short, this post, with millions of views, is indeed a good emergency support for existing users of the Starlink network service, but for new users, it is more of a trap: once you choose the one-month free service, you will need to pay $349 for the Starlink satellite receiver and a monthly network service fee of $120 after the free period.
A stone stirs up a thousand layers of waves. The more affected populations there are, the more anger accumulates. Soon, the media and local officials joined the condemnation, and the momentum grew larger and larger, ultimately forcing SpaceX to respond:
"For those affected by Hurricane Helene or Milton, the Starlink network service will now be provided for free until the end of the year to assist in response and recovery efforts."
According to the updated official website information, the extension of the free time has been specially marked under the "Hurricane Relief" service, and it is also noted that to join the free service, additional purchase of the Starlink kit for receiving signals is required.
The Rapid Expansion of Starlink, A Web Enveloping the Earth
In the midst of these continuous hurricanes, Starlink provided the affected areas with basic communication capabilities and internet connectivity. Although there were some "schemes" hidden within, the overall success overshadowed the flaws and delivered hope along the invisible signals.
At the end of 2020, Starlink was just a young player—launching 893 satellites, far from the target of the initial phase of 1600 satellites, only able to provide up to 174Mbps download speed in some parts of North America. The only major contribution made was by the US Air Force, which collaborated with Starlink for initial testing, while the diverse use cases in offshore and aerial settings only existed in discussions.
Four years later, the global satellite count of Starlink has surpassed six thousand four hundred, nearly eight times higher. It seems like it has woven a huge and invisible network in space, with its trajectory easily captured in the clear night sky with a long-exposure camera, achieving global coverage.
By 2021, the US Army signed an agreement with SpaceX to test the application of Starlink in military networks, including data transmission and remote command, marking yet another military achievement following the collaboration with the Air Force in 2018.
Moreover, Starlink's presence has extended to the global marine environment—by the end of 2023, over four hundred cruise ships worldwide had adopted SpaceX's Starlink system for onboard internet services. The world's largest cruise operator Carnival Corporation has fully deployed the Starlink system on all its ships, covering brands like Carnival Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, and Holland America Line.
Additionally, Starlink provides in-flight internet services for certain flights of American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and Hawaiian Airlines. Whether flying over the Greenland Sea or under the starry sky of the Southern Hemisphere, passengers can enjoy watching videos and receiving information smoothly.
From the vast sea to the boundless desert, even the polar South Pole research station, what was once considered a "dead zone" regarding signals is now covered by Starlink's network. Scenarios that were once only discussed in conference rooms have become a reality today. Even the technological bottleneck of communicating with phones has been resolved with the launch of the Starlink v2.0 satellites.
Throughout 2024, SpaceX has continued to launch into space at an astonishing frequency of 2 to 3 times a month, with 20 to 60 satellites each time. Just a few days ago, SpaceX successfully recovered boosters using the "chopsticks grabbing rocket" method, marking a milestone achievement. Musk announced that the expansion speed of this "net" will become faster and faster:
"It is expected that in early next year, SpaceX will challenge the complete recovery of the entire Starship, and use this huge transportation system to launch and deploy the next-generation larger, faster (download speeds of 300M to 900M) and lower latency Starlink satellites."
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马斯克官宣免费！这个 400 多美元的产品，如何在「世纪飓风」中救命
#马斯克官宣免费这个 #多美元的产品如何在世纪飓风中救命
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