The United States successfully achieved the distinction of being the first country to send a human to the moon in 1969.
Now, more than 50 years on, Britain has at last secured a notable victory in the space race.
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The achievement occurs just days after Musk initiated the first trials of his personal, direct-to-cell system, thus placing the billionaire in a position of playing catch-up.
Satellite communications enable individuals to access broadband services by linking directly with a satellite in orbit - provided or not a mobile signal is available.
The days of being stranded without signal are 'definitely' behind us.
Talking to MailOnline, Tim Peake, the first British astronaut to live on the international space station, stated: "While being in space, you really appreciate the significance of being able to communicate with your friends and family when you're in a distant location.
Regular video calls with my family once a week made a significant positive impact.
Typically, when making a video call, your device transmits a signal to a nearby tower, which forwards the data through the ground-based network to the recipient.
Some technologies, like satellite phones or Starlink, allow users to bypass the grounded network and connect directly to a communications satellite.
As they orbit the Earth at a great height, these satellites have the ability to offer connectivity to regions where it would be impractical or not feasible to construct cell towers.
The main limitation is that they necessitate bulky and frequently costly equipment to transmit and receive signals from space.
For the first time ever, Vodafone has successfully made a video call through a satellite using a completely ordinary, unaltered smartphone.
Vodafone engineer Rowan Chesmer successfully reached Vodafone CEO, Margherita Della Valle, over a phone call from a remote mountainous region in mid-Wales, which has never been connected to a broadband network.
This was made possible by a sequence of extremely large communication satellites in orbit.
Each of the BlueBird satellites in Vodafone's network has a large 64-metre-squared (693 square feet) communications antenna that is sensitive enough to establish a direct connection to a mobile phone on Earth.
She said, 'It uses everyday devices and common services.'
It also incorporates the entirety of the mobile experience, with the entirety of its potential for delivering data services.
The satellite then transmits those signals back to Earth via Vodafone's new space-earth gateway in the United Kingdom.
This European structure is the first of its kind, says Ms. Della Valle, functioning similarly to an 'Earth station', thus combining the satellite and ground networks.
One gateway ensures adequate coverage, allowing every resident in the UK to receive a satellite broadband connection, thereby enabling them to access 4G and 5G services regardless of their location.
So when Mr. Chesmer made his call, the data was relayed to one of the orbiting satellites, bounced back to the Earth-space gateway, and then transmitted through the terrestrial network to Ms. Della Valle's device.
We are incredibly proud because we have had numerous firsts.
It's fantastic to be together again at the forefront of this innovative technology.
We have ambitious plans for the UK with our 5G investment and this will be a great complement to those regions.
Following this initial trial, Ms Della Valle anticipates that the first commercial services will be launched in Europe by the end of this year, with further coverage extending into 2026.
Vodafone is not the only company exploring opportunities in the satellite communications sector.
Most notably, Elon Musk's Starlink has started testing its direct-to-cell satellite connections, which would enable unmodified mobile phones to connect directly to the Starlink network.
However, Ms. Della Valle appears unaffected by the prospect of taking on the biggest name in space technology.
"We're focusing on providing the best service to our clients by installing satellites, not in rivaling any other entity," she says.
Regardless, this first video call now puts Vodafone a significant step ahead of Musk.
So far, Starlink has only successfully transmitted a text message via its satellite network, which demands much lower bandwidth than a video call or the common 5G connection offered by Vodafone.
A post on X in December last year mentioned, "Bandwidth per beam is only ~10MB."
In comparison, the Bluebird satellites used by Vodafone have a peak transmission speed of 120 megabits per second.
Starlink has a substantial advantage due to its affiliation with SpaceX, a leading rocket and spacecraft firm owned by Elon Musk.
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Greater space capacity than the five satellites utilized by Vodafone can offer.
However, Mr Peake believes that Musk's advantage may not remain for much longer.
He notes: "We have SpaceX outsized market share in launching capabilities but they're about to face some substantial competition."
'That's bringing down the cost of access to space, which means we can accomplish more in space.'
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