Starlink's direct-to-cell satellite service for emergency alerts goes online in North Carolina as Florida braces for Hurricane Milton this week.

Starlink is being used to provide wireless emergency alerts to cell phones from all carriers in North Carolina, according to Ben Longmier, senior director of satellite engineering for SpaceX. "We are also closely monitoring Hurricane Milton and standing by ready to take action in Florida," he wrote.

Elon Musk’s space-based internet satellites got special permission to act as cell phone towers in the sky, connecting people in blacked-out areas of North Carolina as they begin post-storm recovery efforts.

The approval allows SpaceX to use radio frequencies leased from T-Mobile to provide what's called "Supplemental Coverage from Space" beamed from Starlink's low-Earth orbit satellite constellation.