Sophie
28 октября 2026 г. · 11 мин чтения
A friend is sailing across the Atlantic, a relative is trekking in Nepal, a colleague has been posted to a construction site in the Sahel. Each one takes a satellite phone along and leaves you a number that looks like nothing you've ever seen: +881 6…, +870 7…, +882…. You type it into your messaging app, and either the message fails or it goes out and never comes back. A satellite phone can indeed be reached by text message, but almost never the way an ordinary mobile is: its number belongs to a global country code assigned by the ITU, the message is often capped at 120 or 160 characters, and the most reliable route — as well as the cheapest — is the satellite operator's free web portal, not your mobile plan.
Updated 28 October 2026.
Why doesn't a satellite number have a country code?
Because it isn't tied to any country. A satellite network covers the entire planet: giving it +33 or +1 would make no sense. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), which manages the global numbering plan through Recommendation E.164, has therefore set aside "global" country codes for mobile satellite services.
These codes all begin with +88. The main ones, as they appear in the ITU's official list of dialling codes:
| Code | Network | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
+881 6 or +881 7 | Iridium | Handheld satellite phones (expeditions, maritime, humanitarian work) |
+881 8 / +881 9 | Globalstar | Phones and trackers |
+870 | Inmarsat (SNAC service) | Maritime and land terminals (IsatPhone, Fleet) |
+882 16 | Thuraya | Africa, Middle East, Asia, Europe |
+8816 / +8817 | Iridium (older written form) | Same as +881 6, just written differently |
Two practical consequences for you:
- The number is always dialled in full international format, with the
+. There is no "local" form of a satellite number, no possible06. It's the same principle explained in our article on the international format of a foreign number: without the+, the network has no idea what to do with it. - These codes are never included in mobile plans. No French operator files
+881under "unlimited texts abroad". When sending is possible at all, it is billed outside your plan.
Some satellite subscriptions add a further twist: the terminal may also be assigned a conventional national number by the reseller (for example a US +1 number with certain Iridium distributors, or a Dutch number with certain Inmarsat resellers). If your contact gives you that number, sending becomes an ordinary international text message — far simpler. Always ask for it before departure.
Can you text a satellite phone from a French mobile?
Technically yes, in some cases, but it's the least reliable and most expensive method. Three obstacles stack up.
Blocking by default. The +88x codes have historically also been used for call-termination fraud. Many operators and MVNOs block outgoing calls and texts to these prefixes by default, exactly as they block premium-rate numbers. If your message fails immediately with a "Message not sent" error, that's the first thing to check: call customer service and explicitly ask them to lift the block on satellite destinations.
The price. A text to a satellite network is billed as an out-of-plan destination, often more than €0.50 per message and sometimes far more. The "World" price lists of Orange, SFR, Bouygues Telecom and Free Mobile distinguish between conventional fixed/mobile destinations and "satellite destinations", which sit in the highest band. Check your operator's current price sheet before sending a series of messages: those lines then show up on your bill as out-of-plan charges, something we detail in our guide to texts and data outside the European Union.
No reliable delivery receipt. Even when the message does go out, your phone has no way of knowing what the satellite gateway does with it. A "delivered" report only means that your operator's message centre passed the text to the partner network. The terminal itself may be switched off, under a blocked sky, or simply out of coverage. The same phenomenon of misleading receipts is described in our article on delivery receipts for international texts.
The most reliable method: the satellite operator's web portal
The four major satellite networks all run a free web gateway that injects your message straight into their own system, with no terrestrial operator involved. It's the route the manufacturers themselves recommend and, in practice, the one that works.
Iridium
Iridium provides a short-message sending page on its website (iridium.com), accessible without an account. How it works:
- You enter the terminal's full number, without
+and without00(format88166xxxxxxx). - You type your message.
- You complete the anti-robot check.
Limits to keep in mind: the message is capped at 160 characters, and more importantly the terminal will receive nothing unless it has been configured to accept incoming texts from the internet. On the IridiumGO! and the Iridium Extreme, this option is enabled in the device settings — something to do before departure, not from the middle of the desert.
Inmarsat / IsatPhone
Inmarsat offers an equivalent gateway for its IsatPhone terminals, with a lower ceiling: 160 characters, plus a limited number of messages per day per number to prevent abuse. The golden rule here is not to split a long text across six messages: the parts arrive in unpredictable order, or not at all.
Thuraya
Thuraya accepts incoming texts from the internet through its customer portal, and its terminals also accept standard texts sent from a mobile — it's the most "ordinary phone"-like of the four networks, because it relies on geostationary satellites and uses an interface close to GSM.
Globalstar and emergency messengers
Globalstar powers SPOT beacons and messengers, which are very common in hiking. Careful: a SPOT beacon or an inReach is not a phone. These devices receive messages through the manufacturer's app or portal, using a dedicated number or account ID, not via a +88x. If your contact is travelling with a satellite hiking tracker rather than a phone, ask them for the sharing link or the messaging address linked to their account: it's the only channel that works.
What are the real limits of a satellite text message?
They come from the nature of the radio link, not from the software.
- Length. Depending on the network, the real limit is 120 to 160 characters, and concatenation (long texts automatically split into parts) is often not supported. Write short, in a single unit, with no emoji — a single character outside the GSM alphabet can switch the message to Unicode encoding and cut the available space down to 70 characters, a mechanism we explain in our article on the 160-character limit.
- Delay. A satellite terminal isn't permanently on standby on the network: it has to be switched on, antenna deployed, with a clear view of the sky. Messages are stored by the network and delivered at the next connection, sometimes hours later. Low-orbit constellations such as Iridium pass over the terminal intermittently; geostationary systems such as Thuraya and Inmarsat, for their part, require the antenna to be pointed precisely southwards in Europe.
- Replying. Replying to a message received from a web portal isn't always possible: it often arrives from a generic, non-routable sender. If you're expecting an answer, put your own number in plain text within the message body.
- Battery. A satellite phone draws an enormous amount of power while acquiring the signal. That's why expeditions always carry a high-capacity power bank and a foldable solar panel, and plan fixed power-on slots rather than keeping the device on standby.
Worth settling before departure: agree on a daily time slot ("I switch on between 6 and 6.30 p.m. local time") and a single channel. Firing off a message at random across three different channels doesn't multiply the chances of it arriving — it multiplies the cost.
Is "satellite texting" on smartphones the same thing?
No, and the confusion is common now that manufacturers advertise satellite messaging on consumer smartphones. These are two distinct worlds:
| Dedicated satellite phone | Smartphone with satellite messaging | |
|---|---|---|
| Hardware | Specialised terminal, thick antenna | Recent iPhone or Android, internal antenna |
| Number | Global code +88x or +870 | Your usual mobile number |
| Coverage | Near-worldwide (depending on constellation) | Areas and countries strictly listed by the manufacturer |
| Use | Voice + texts + slow data | Short messages, often limited to emergencies |
| Operator | Separate satellite subscription | Depends on your plan and current agreements |
On the consumer smartphone side, the French ecosystem is moving forward step by step. Arcep has opened a public consultation on the L band to prepare for Direct-to-Device, and commercial offers remain tightly framed: we review what actually works in our article on satellite texts and calls in France. In other words: if your contact is heading into an area with no terrestrial coverage at all for several weeks, a smartphone — however recent — is no substitute for a satellite terminal.
Checklist before leaving for an area with no network
To go through together, before the person becomes unreachable:
- Write down both numbers: the full
+88xsatellite number and any conventional national number assigned by the reseller. - Enable reception of texts from the internet in the terminal's settings, and test the web portal from home with the terminal switched on by a window.
- Test a full round trip: a message from the portal to the terminal, then a reply from the terminal to your mobile. It's the only test that counts.
- Check the balance: most satellite subscriptions are prepaid, with units that expire on a fixed date. Expired credit in the middle of an expedition isn't easy to top up.
- Prepare for power autonomy: a 20,000 mAh power bank, a portable solar charger, and a spare cable. A flat satellite terminal is the same as no terminal at all.
- Protect the hardware: a reinforced waterproof pouch prevents the most banal mishap of all — moisture in the charging port.
- Agree on a fallback protocol: who calls what, after how many hours of silence, with which travel-insurance assistance number. Write it down on paper, on both sides.
If your contact is travelling with a local SIM card alongside their satellite terminal, remember that their French number becomes unreachable in the meantime: the phenomenon is explained in our article on local SIM cards and lost French texts.
For every other situation — a recipient who has a genuine mobile network, however far away — you need none of this equipment: sending a free text message from the internet is enough, and our FAQ sums up the number formats that are accepted.
Frequently asked questions
How do you write an Iridium number to send a text message?
In full international format: +8816 followed by the remaining seven or eight digits (some numbers are written +881 6…, which is the same thing). From a French landline or mobile, replace the + with 00. On Iridium's web portal, you enter the number without + or 00.
Is a text to a satellite phone included in my mobile plan?
No. No French plan covers the satellite destinations +870, +881 or +882. These messages are billed outside your plan at the highest rate on the operator's "World" price list — when they aren't simply blocked by default.
Can you send a free text message to a satellite phone?
Yes, through the official web gateway of the network concerned (Iridium, Inmarsat, Thuraya). Sending is free for the sender, up to a certain number of messages per day per recipient, and provided the terminal has been set to accept texts coming from the internet.
Why does my satellite text never arrive?
Three causes, in order of frequency: reception of internet-originated texts isn't enabled on the terminal; the terminal is switched off or has no view of the sky and the message expires in the network's queue; your operator blocks outgoing +88x prefixes. Always test from the official portal before concluding that something is broken.
Does a SPOT beacon or a hiking tracker receive text messages?
Not by conventional SMS. These devices work through the manufacturer's portal or app and an account ID; some two-way models accept incoming messages from the app, but never via a simple phone number dialled from your messaging app.
