The Pixel 9 series' Satellite SOS will keep you safe and connected — here's how

How many old movies have you watched where the life-or-death situation the hero finds themselves in could be instantly resolved if they just lived in the era of cell phones? When we’re dealing with emergencies, connectivity is an absolute game-changer, and that’s why we’re seeing more and more smartphone companies get serious about satellite communication. Apple really put everyone on notice when it baked a satellite solution into the iPhone 14, and we’ve long been wondering when Google would follow suit. After months of leaks and rumors, today Google confirms its plans to bring satellite SOS support to the Pixel 9 family.

So, how is this going to work? Well, for starters, nothing’s happening right away. While Pixel 9 phones are being equipped with the requisite hardware, Google doesn’t plan to flip the switch on satellite communication until sometime a little later this year. Considering that these models are all shipping with Android 14, when it’s Android 15 that includes the code needed for satellite support, that kind of delay only makes sense.

Additionally, when satellite SOS goes live, it will initially be limited to Pixel owners in the US. Google tells us that it expects to expand access to additional territories over time but isn’t talking about any specific ETA for that. In addition to contacting emergency services, the system will let you share your location with contacts.

Just like we’ve seen in leaks, using satellite SOS will start by asking you some details about your emergency. These targeted questions will help determine how many people are involved, their current medical condition, and other situational specifics. All that’s important because satellite bandwidth is quite limited, and you want to have all relevant information ready to send the moment you get a lock on a bird (what the cool kids call satellites).

That satellite acquisition process should feel familiar, as we already got a chance to see its UI in action earlier this year. You’ll tilt your phone up, down, and around while trying to guide an on-screen satellite indicator to the center of a circle.

The one big detail we still don’t have is pricing. As expected, Google’s making satellite SOS available free to Pixel 9 owners for two years, but after that… your guess is as good as ours. To be fair, that’s one detail you’re not going to need to think about for a long while, but based on your feedback in our recent poll, very few of you are interested in paying for emergency satellite access. Whether that’s some exceptional faith in your carrier, or a bit of hubris, remains to be seen.