Samsung Is Adding Satellite Communication Support for the Galaxy S23 Series Soon

South Korean tech giant Samsung is reportedly laying the groundwork to add a satellite connectivity feature to its next-gen Galaxy S23 line-up.

XDA reports that the company collaborates with US-based Iridium Communications to provide satellite communication support for its upcoming flagship products.

Samsung Satellite Connectivity

When there is no cellular signal coverage in an area, users can reportedly connect to satellite installations and make emergency calls using this function. The most recent iPhone 14 series from Apple is now equipped with the above-said feature.

Last September, Apple invited several iPhone 14 users to participate in its testing of the satellite texting feature for emergencies as part of the device's SOS feature.

All iPhones have the SOS feature, but only the most recent iPhone 14 has the ability to connect to satellites. It appears that Samsung will soon release the same feature for its smartphones.

At the moment, all iPhone 14 models can only communicate with satellites through specialized texts that take a few seconds to send due to the great distance. According to Wccftech, if Samsung can find a way to bring voice-enabled satellite communication to all Galaxy S23 models, the Korean company will be able to assert dominance over its rival phone makers.

The South Korean smartphone manufacturer has not yet released any details about its Galaxy S23 series, but leaks indicate that the upcoming Samsung series will include several minor hardware improvements over its current Galaxy S22 series.

According to SamMobile, the Galaxy S23 series will also include an E6 LTPO 3.0 Super AMOLED display with 2,200 nits of peak brightness, a 200MP ISOCELL HP2 camera sensor (S23 Ultra only), a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, LPDDR5X RAM, UFS 4.0 storage, and Wi-Fi 7. Another highlight from most leaks is the rumored satellite connectivity.

Early Reports

Based on early reports, Samsung is collaborating with Iridium Communications to bring the feature to Galaxy S23 series users by leveraging Iridium's 66 low-orbit communication satellites. The report added that the phone manufacturer has been exploring the aforementioned feature for the past two years.

Users may be able to send text messages and low-resolution images using Samsung's upcoming satellite communications feature. As per the report, the company has overcome all technical challenges in order to include a new modem-RF system capable of satellite communication on devices.

In contrast, Huawei utilizes Beidou satellites to bring similar features to the Mate 50 Pro series, while Apple partners with Global Star to bring satellite connectivity to the iPhone 14.

However, how widely the feature would be made available is still unknown. Only the US and Canada currently have the emergency communication feature enabled on Apple products.

ETNews was the first to report this information, along with the claim that Samsung Electronics is reviewing the corresponding features on the Galaxy S23, which will be unveiled in 2023. The feature is anticipated to be made public this year, given the competition from Huawei and Apple.