The FCC approved SpaceX on Wednesday, Oct. 7, to launch and operate up to 15,000 next-generation Starlink Mobile satellites that connect directly to ordinary smartphones. SpaceX has about 650 mobile satellites in orbit today. Elon Musk said on X that the new V2 constellation will deliver more than 100 times the bandwidth of the current system.
The company says the upgraded network will deliver 5G speeds of up to 150 Mbps per user, using spectrum from T-Mobile and airwaves SpaceX purchased from EchoStar. That goes beyond patching dead zones: it is a bid to offer real mobile broadband from space.
Existing rules assumed satellite operators would lease spectrum from a terrestrial carrier, which made carriers the gatekeepers. Because SpaceX now owns roughly 65 MHz of spectrum, acquired from EchoStar in two deals totaling about $19.6 billion, the FCC waived the leasing requirement, citing competition in retail wireless service. In practice, SpaceX can sell phone service without a carrier’s sign-off, which weakens the leverage of T-Mobile, its current direct-to-cell partner. SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell added that the spectrum has terrestrial components and the company intends to build out on the ground as well.
The timeline is long. Launches are slated to begin in late 2027, and SpaceX cannot use the EchoStar spectrum commercially until the remaining part of that deal closes, expected by Nov. 30, 2027. Half the constellation must be in orbit by Oct. 7, 2032, and the full network by Oct. 7, 2035.
Capacity is also a question. Moving from about 650 to 15,000 satellites is roughly a 23-fold increase, so a 100x bandwidth gain implies each satellite carries about four times today’s load. But 150 Mbps is a peak figure, and satellite beams share capacity across wide areas. How the network performs under heavy demand in dense cities remains unproven. That points to rural and roaming customers as the first to feel competitive pressure.
AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile formed a satellite-to-phone joint venture on Oct. 2, but it still needs another company’s satellites. Verizon’s and AT&T’s current satellite arrangements rely on AST SpaceMobile, whose network is not yet built. AST shares fell about 4% on the news. AT&T may be the most exposed: revenue was $126 billion in fiscal 2025, down from $134 billion in 2021, so even modest rural losses would show.
The approval came from an FCC bureau rather than the full commission, so it could be reviewed. On Oct. 29, the FCC votes on auctioning 25 MHz of spectrum for direct-to-device service, and a carrier win there would narrow SpaceX’s lead. Investors should also watch whether launches begin on schedule in late 2027. Analysts project SpaceX revenue rising from $45.1 billion in fiscal 2026 to $200 billion in fiscal 2028.
