T-Mobile, which is working with SpaceX to enable people to text and make phone calls via satellite, says it has successfully sent a test emergency alert via a Starlink satellite. Satellite alerts can help ensure people receive important messages when they are out of cellular network range. T-Mobile claims this is the first time a wireless emergency alert has been sent via satellite in the U.S.

“On Thursday, September 5, at 5:13 p.m. PT, T-Mobile initiated a test alert for a hypothetical evacuation request,” T-Mobile said. “The alert was transmitted 217 miles into space, where it was received by one of the 175+ Starlink satellites currently in low Earth orbit, effectively acting as cell towers in space. The alert was then broadcast to a geographic area affected by the hypothetical evacuation request and received by a T-Mobile smartphone.” T-Mobile says it took “just seconds” to queue the message and deliver it via satellite.

In 2022, T-Mobile and SpaceX announced a partnership that would allow people to text, make calls, and use data on their T-Mobile phones via Starlink’s satellites. According to Starlink’s direct-to-cell website, the ability to text via satellite will begin rolling out this year, and T-Mobile said in January that the service would expand to include voice and data “in the coming years.” In a blog post Wednesday, T-Mobile said it “intends to beta test the service before launching commercially.”

AT&T and Verizon are also building out satellite smartphone services, and Apple and Google are offering satellite services for iPhone and Pixel smartphones.