T-Mobile is using Starlink in the US, and the satellite operator has partnerships with carriers overseas. With today’s FCC authorization, Starlink will be able to provide both fixed and mobile service from all 15,000 second-generation satellites.
SpaceX also recently struck a $17 billion deal to buy spectrum licenses from EchoStar, which will give it 50 Mhz of mobile spectrum and reduce its reliance on cellular carriers. SpaceX has been leasing 10 MHz of spectrum from T-Mobile to provide supplemental service in the US.
Starlink is separately planning to launch yet another 15,000 satellites that are designed for mobile service. SpaceX asked the FCC to approve this plan in September 2025, saying the “new system will offer a new generation of MSS connectivity, supporting voice, texting, and high-speed data.”
Starlink requests for FCC authorization often face opposition from other satellite firms, and the application for 15,000 more satellites is no exception. Viasat filed a petition to deny the application on Monday this week.
“This proposed expansion of SpaceX’s operating authority would give it an even greater ability and incentive to foreclose other operators from accessing and using limited orbital and spectrum resources on a competitive basis,” Viasat told the FCC. “At the same time, the proposed operations would generate insurmountable interference risks for other spectrum users and the customers they serve, preclude other operators from accessing and using scarce spectral and orbital resources on an equitable basis, undermine and foreclose competition and innovation, and otherwise harm the public.”
Globalstar also filed a petition to deny, and several other satellite operators raised objections. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has generally been a supporter of SpaceX and Elon Musk, however. Carr alleged that the Biden administration targeted Musk’s companies for “regulatory harassment,” and in his current role as chairman Carr pressured EchoStar into selling the spectrum licenses that SpaceX is now buying.
In today’s press release announcing the latest authorization, Carr said that “the FCC has given SpaceX the green light to deliver unprecedented satellite broadband capabilities, strengthen competition, and help ensure that no community is left behind.”
Curated by Dr. Elena Rodriguez
