The first voice call via satellite using a regular phone has just occurred. The first satellite call was made by AST SpaceMobile and AT&T using an unmodified smartphone. The call was received by retail Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra from Texas.
This could enable any smartphone to make and receive calls from anywhere on the planet. However, AST SpaceMobile recently demonstrated that satellite connectivity does not require cramming anything into a smartphone. The company recently made the first satellite call using off-the-shelf smartphones, specifically the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, in collaboration with AT&T, a major investor. AST dialled a phone number in Japan from Texas.