SpaceX’s Starlink satellite service has for years provided internet to remote regions of the world and areas reeling from unrest or natural disaster.
Now, the space-based technology has found another new use: helping dog owners keep track of their beloved canines.
Those who take their furry companions on adventures into the wilderness and other rural areas have likely all at one point had the same thought in the back of their minds: What happens if my pooch takes off?
Sure, GPS trackers already on the market can help locate a wayward animal, but isolated areas beyond the reach of a cellular tower may not be capable of broadcasting that information.
Now, a New York company claims to have solved that dilemma with a new product that integrates SpaceX’s growing Starlink satellite network to expand connectivity.
Here’s what to know about how Starlink can help you track and find your dogs − if they’re lost.
Fi, a pet technology company based in New York City, launched a new dog tracker July 8 that relies on SpaceX’s Starlink satellites service to help dog owners keep track of their pets.
While other GPS trackers lose connectivity when cellular coverage ends, the company claims its Fi Ultra tracker will stay connected via the large satellite network that provides internet to even the most rural and remote areas. The technology uses T-Mobile’s T-Satellite Starlink-powered mobile satellite network to help track a dog’s location nearly anywhere in the United States, even areas with no cellular service, according to a press release.
Fi touted the product as the first dog tracker that can tap into a satellite network.
“Our mission has always been to strengthen the human-animal connection via data, to give dogs more freedom while keeping them safe,” Fi co-founder and CEO Jonathan Bensamoun said in a statement. “That mission now extends to every corner of the country and soon, every corner of the world.”
Starlink is SpaceX’s lucrative orbital satellite internet business.
SpaceX, which tech mogul Elon Musk founded in 2002, bills itself as the only satellite internet provider with its own reusable rocket – its two-stage, 230-foot Falcon 9 – capable of deploying the technology.
After services first became available about five years ago, more than 7 million people in 150 countries now use the internet service, SpaceX said as recently as October.
The satellites operate in low-Earth orbit, where they circle Earth at a lower altitude nearer the atmosphere, offering higher connection speeds than satellites further out in space. That means the satellites are equipped to make internet service accessible in rural areas and other regions that have been traditionally harder to reach.
Since the first launch in 2019 from Cape Canaveral, Florida, Starlink has grown into a constellation of approaching 11,000 satellites in space.
Today, SpaceX’s workhorse Falcon 9 rocket regularly deploys Starlink satellites into orbit from Florida – at both NASA’s Kennedy Space Center and also the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station – as well as California. The first West Coast launch from the Vandenberg Space Force Base came in 2021, a Vandenberg spokesperson previously told the USA TODAY Network.
SpaceX also plans for its larger Starship rocket to deploy even bigger Starlink satellites to space.
Fi’s new Starlink-powered device is compatible with standard dog harnesses and collars, as well as existing collars used for older Fi trackers relying on cell towers to broadcast GPS data.
The new Fi Ultra service not only offers real-time location updates, but provides notifications when dogs leave designated areas and integrated proprietary training technology using sound and vibrations to call the animals back.
The Fi Ultra device costs $199 for new subscribers, in addition to an annual membership starting at $189. The technology is available to existing customers for a $299 flat fee.
Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@usatodayco.com
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