A $450 million investment from Apple’s Advanced Manufacturing Fund provides the critical infrastructure that supports Emergency SOS via satellite for iPhone 14 models. Available to customers in the US and Canada beginning later this month, the new service will allow iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro models to connect directly to a satellite, enabling messaging with emergency services when outside of cellular and Wi-Fi coverage.
As previously mentioned, Globalstar, which is headquartered in Covington, Louisiana, is one of the main companies that Apple is investing money into. “At Globalstar, more than 300 employees support the new service,” Apple explains in its post.
Apple goes on to elaborate on how the system will function, noting that when iPhone 14 users make an Emergency SOS via satellite request, the message will then be received by one of Globalstar’s 24 satellites which will then forward that message along to emergency dispatch.
Delivered in partnership with Globalstar, Apple’s Emergency SOS via satellite service utilizes the spectrum in L and S bands specially designated for mobile satellite services by ITU Radio Regulations. When an iPhone user makes an Emergency SOS via satellite request, the message is received by one of Globalstar’s 24 satellites in low-earth orbit traveling at speeds of approximately 16,000 mph.
The satellite then sends the message down to custom ground stations located at key points all over the world. Once received by a ground station, the message is routed to emergency services that can dispatch help, or a relay center with Apple-trained emergency specialists if the closest emergency services location is not able to receive text messages.
Other areas where Apple is investing money include ground stations using new “high-power antennas designed and manufactured specifically for Apple by Cobham Satcom in Concord, California.” Apple shares that, in effort to increase reliability and coverage, new antennas have been installed in all Globalstar worldwide ground stations.
For more on how Apple is investing $450 million in U.S. satellite networks and new ground station antennas, be sure to read through the full post from Apple. And for other Apple news, check out some of our previous coverage including Tim Cook saying there are more than 900 million Apple service subscribers split between Apple TV+ and Apple Music, and how Apple’s (AAPL) Q4 2022 iPhone and Services revenue segments missed expectations.