from SpaceX Starlink Mobile It helps people stay connected in cell dead zones, but it has another unique use: tracking cows.
New Zealand-based Halter is integrating SpaceX’s Starlink cellular service to help ranchers wirelessly track and manage their herds via solar-powered GPS collars. So far, Halter has tracked these collars through custom $4,500 radio towers with a range of about 5 miles. However, Starlink integration means the collars can connect using SpaceX’s orbiting satellites; It is not necessary to install radio towers. The cows can then be grazed without restrictions.
(Credit: Halter)
“Using Starlink, the new technology allows ranchers to manage cattle anywhere they can see the sky,” according to Halter, who says their “internal modeling estimates that direct-to-satellite capability expands coverage of the U.S. beef cattle market by 2.5 times.”
The New Zealand Herald information that each Starlink-compatible collar will cost $9 (probably NZ dollars) per animal per month, compared to $8 per cow per month for the tower-based system.
Halter’s direct-to-satellite service is available for beef operations in the US and New Zealand, and will soon be coming to Australia and Canada.
Halter’s technology allows ranchers to create a “virtual fence” for their cow herds. In addition to location tracking, each collar can issue audio commands to move the cow away from a location; If the cow ignores the command, then the collar can emit “a safe, low-level pulse that is significantly weaker than an electric fence (about one-tenth the strength of traditional hot wire),” the company said. says. “Once trained, most cattle respond solely to sound. In fact, the guidance cues a typical cow receives each day are almost entirely sound and vibration.”
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The Halter partnership shows how Starlink Mobile could go beyond smartphone connectivity in dead zones to serve a wide range of IoT devices in rural and remote areas. SpaceX Global Partner Director Jeff Ahmet noted: “This is exactly the type of Starlink Mobile innovation that changes industries. We are moving from the era of ‘dead zones’ to an era of total connectivity for every acre on Earth.”
Last year, SpaceX’s partner operator in New Zealand, One NZ, also discussed using satellite connectivity for hive monitoring equipment.
About our expert
Michael Kan
Senior Reporter
Experience
I have been a journalist for more than 15 years. I started as a schools and cities reporter in Kansas City and joined PCMag in 2017, where I cover satellite internet services, cybersecurity, PC hardware, and more. I currently reside in San Francisco, but previously spent more than five years in China, covering the country’s technology sector.
Since 2020, I have covered the launch and explosive growth of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet service, writing more than 600 stories on availability and feature launches, but also the regulatory battles over expanding satellite constellations, fights with rival providers like AST SpaceMobile and Amazon, and the effort to expand into satellite-based mobile service. I scoured the FCC files for the latest news and drove to remote corners of California to test Starlink cellular service.
I also cover cyber threats, from ransomware gangs to the emergence of AI-based malware. In 2024 and 2025, the FTC forced Avast pay consumers $16.5 million for secretly collecting and selling their personal information to third-party clients, as revealed in my joint report investigation with motherboard.
I also cover the PC graphics card market. Pandemic-era shortages took me camping vs. Best Buy to get an RTX 3000. Now I’m tracking how the AI-driven memory shortage is affecting the entire consumer electronics market. I’m always eager to learn more, so hit the comments with your feedback and send me tips.
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