Skylo: Satellite Connectivity Built Into Your Phone

Skylo: The Direct-to-Device Satellite Network Already Inside Your Phone

Your phone already has satellite connectivity. You probably didn't notice when it arrived. No new device. No antenna. No hardware swap. Just a firmware update — and suddenly the ability to text, share your location, and call for help anywhere on Earth, even where no cell tower has ever stood.

That's what Skylo built. Founded in Mountain View, California, Skylo Technologies delivers direct-to-device satellite connectivity to smartphones, wearables, and IoT sensors through chipsets already inside existing devices. It works on satellites already in orbit, through the carrier you already pay. No specialist equipment. No extra subscription to access the network.

The technology runs on 3GPP Release 17 — the same global mobile standard that governs cellular networks. In other words, it works exactly like your phone signal. Just from space.

How Direct-to-Device Satellite Connectivity Works Without Any New Hardware

Most satellite services require a separate device or dedicated antenna. Skylo removes both by embedding its NTN service directly into modem chips already inside billions of phones and IoT devices.

Following more than a year of joint research, Skylo and Samsung certified the Exynos Modem 5400 in mid-2024, unlocking satellite access for flagship Android smartphones across Skylo's network. The Samsung Galaxy S25 family supports the service natively. In September 2024, Skylo added support for Qualcomm's Snapdragon X80 5G Modem, enabling two-way text messaging, location sharing, and SOS alerts to emergency services. Furthermore, Google embedded Skylo's service natively into the Pixel 9, Pixel 10, and Pixel Watch 4 — meaning satellite features work as a built-in phone function. Consequently, Skylo's network now sits inside three of the world's most widely used smartphone platforms at once.

Where the Direct-to-Device Satellite Connectivity Service Is Already Live

The rollout is moving faster than most people realize. Skylo launched across the US, Canada, and Europe in partnership with Qualcomm, Samsung, MediaTek, Sony, and Deutsche Telekom. Verizon customers with compatible Android phones can text 911 and message other Verizon users over satellite. Orange launched the service in France exclusively for Google Pixel 9 and 10 owners. o2 Telefónica introduced a dedicated Satellite IoT tariff for business customers in March 2025. Vodafone IoT partnered with Skylo to blend satellite and cellular into a single SIM. The service is currently live across 37 countries on five continents.

In February 2024, Skylo raised $67 million across two rounds — $37 million co-led by Intel Capital and Innovation Endeavors, followed by an oversubscribed $30 million raise — with investors including BMW i Ventures, Samsung Catalyst Fund, Next47, and Seraphim Space. In 2025, Skylo won the Global Space Award, one of eight recipients globally.

Why Direct-to-Device Satellite Connectivity Matters Beyond Emergency Use

The SOS use case gets the headlines. The industrial case carries the real scale. Skylo's network connects shipping containers crossing oceans, electrical grids in remote regions, agricultural sensors on farms beyond cellular reach, and construction workers in areas with no signal at all.

Skylo's service is accessible across more than a billion devices already in circulation — not through new hardware, but through chips already embedded in those devices. That number grows with every new certified modem that ships.

Parth Trivedi, CEO of Skylo, frames the mission simply: never lose coverage. Delivering that across every ocean, every mountain range, and every rural corner of the planet where cellular towers don't exist is the work the company is doing right now.