The first call from orbit made by T-Mobile could happen shortly. SpaceX has requested 60 days of “Special Temporary Authority” from the Federal Communications Commission so that it can launch and test its Gen2 satellites’ connectivity to conventional mobile calls.

“Direct-to-cell STA to launch and test its non-geostationary orbit NGSO second generation Gen2 satellites with direct-to-cellular communications payloads to connect unmodified cellular phones directly to SpaceX Gen2 satellites,” the filing’s summary states.

A benefit for worldwide connection is the ability to make phone calls using a typical smartphone and a low-Earth orbit satellite. By offering dependable, high-quality connectivity in faraway locations, possibly for the first time, the connection could disprove the idea of dead zones. Although a 5G agreement between T-Mobile and SpaceX’s Starlink was announced in August, it is currently unknown whether the anticipated phone calls in December will use 5G.

The revelation was first reported by X user Megaconstellations, according to a Reddit member.

“As Omnispace objections delayed SpaceX’s application for D2D service yesterday, they requested Special Temporary Authorization with the FCC to test their D2D payload with T-Mobile’s PCS G Block coordinate with various radio astronomers across multiple U.S. locations,” Megaconstellations wrote in a blog post.

This entails that T-Mobile and SpaceX will test device-to-device (D2D) service over the PCS G Block, which is the mobile carrier’s 1910-1915 MHz and 1990-1995 MHz bands, respectively.

A Samsung Galaxy S22 smartphone was used by AST SpaceMobile, an AT&T-backed cellular satellite firm, to call a Vodafone engineer in Madrid, Spain, last month while in a wireless dead zone on the Hawaiian island of Maui. The cell signal arrived at its destination thanks to AT&T’s 5G spectrum, Nokia’s network core, and AST SpaceMobile’s BlueWalker 3 low-Earth orbit satellite.

T-Mobile and SpaceX were unavailable for comment right away.