Don’t miss out on our latest stories. Add PCMag as a preferred source on Google.
SpaceX wants to launch as many as 15,000 next-generation satellites to upgrade its cellular Starlink service for phones.
On Friday, the company filed a request with the FCC for the additional satellites, which will harness the radio spectrum SpaceX is acquiring from Boost Mobile’s parent, EchoStar, in a $17 billion deal. “This new system of up to 15,000 satellites will provide ubiquitous connectivity to ordinary mobile handsets and a range of other devices and user terminals,” the company wrote.
The filing offers some additional details about SpaceX’s effort to upgrade its cellular Starlink system through the EchoStar deal. The system currently spans over 650 “direct-to-cell” Starlink satellites, which can beam connectivity to phones in cellular dead zones.
It currently supports satellite-powered text messaging and even video calls over WhatsApp. But with the EchoStar spectrum, SpaceX says it can deliver a 20-fold increase in throughput to the user for performance comparable to 4G LTE.
(Credit: PCMag/Michael Kan)
In the filing, SpaceX says the satellite system “will consist of a constellation of low and very low Earth orbit satellites that will leverage SpaceX’s existing ground equipment as well as add new equipment that aims to optimize performance for consumers.”
In November, the FCC cleared SpaceX to orbit some Starlink satellites as low as 340 kilometers in orbit, so long as the company coordinates with NASA. The company’s new application requests to orbit the next-generation cellular Starlink satellites ever closer to Earth, from between 326 kilometers to 335km, which would likely help reduce their latency when connecting to phones below.
(Credit: SpaceX/FCC)
The satellites will harness the EchoStar spectrum and partner T-Mobile’s 1.91 to 1.995GHz bands for US operations and a wide range of bands for international markets.
Get Our Best Stories!
Your Daily Dose of Our Top Tech News
By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Thanks for signing up!
Your subscription has been confirmed. Keep an eye on your inbox!
(Credit: SpaceX/FCC)
In the US, T-Mobile has been the exclusive provider of cellular Starlink. As part of the EchoStar deal, Boost Mobile will also gain access. However, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has also considered offering cellular Starlink as a standalone service to compete with traditional mobile carriers.
Interestingly, the company’s request to the FCC alludes to SpaceX using both satellites and ground-based equipment to offer cell coverage. “Additionally, as SpaceX has acquired EchoStar’s terrestrial AWS-4 licenses in the 2GHz band, SpaceX may deploy ground-based systems in the US, creating a hybrid satellite/terrestrial network to expand the coverage and capacity of these services,” the document says.
The mention of a hybrid satellite/terrestrial network also pops up in separate FCC documents filed on Friday about SpaceX taking over the EchoStar spectrum.
Recommended by Our Editors
However, satellite industry analyst Tim Farrar tells PCMag it’s possible the terrestrial network is more of a long-term goal. One of the FCC documents also mentions SpaceX “employing terrestrial base stations to enhance capacity where needed.”
“SpaceX also says that the satellites are capable of serving the entire US, while terrestrial and satellite cannot serve the same area simultaneously. So any terrestrial deployment is not the first priority; at best, it is for long-term capacity enhancement,” he said. “A secondary objective could be to maintain the possibility to monetize some of the spectrum for terrestrial use by leasing it to an MNO [mobile network operators] in urban areas, which was widely thought to be part of [EchoStar founder Charlie] Ergen’s D2D plan.”
Musk has also said his company will need at least two years before smartphone chipsets support the EchoStar radio frequencies. This week, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell added that the company has started working on bringing the needed chipsets to the latest phones. But requiring FCC approval for the proposed constellation for the cellular Starlink service will also take time.
The proposal for the 15,000 satellite system arrives a year after SpaceX made an earlier FCC request to operate up to 29,988 satellites for home broadband-focused Starlink service with the goal of delivering gigabit speeds.
About Our Expert
Michael Kan
Senior Reporter
Experience
I’ve been a journalist for over 15 years. I got my start 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’m currently based in San Francisco, but previously spent over five years in China, covering the country’s technology sector.
Since 2020, I’ve covered the launch and explosive growth of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet service, writing 600+ stories on availability and feature launches, but also the regulatory battles over the expansion of satellite constellations, fights with rival providers like AST SpaceMobile and Amazon, and the effort to expand into satellite-based mobile service. I’ve combed through FCC filings for the latest news and driven to remote corners of California to test Starlink’s cellular service.
I also cover cyber threats, from ransomware gangs to the emergence of AI-based malware. Earlier this year, the FTC forced Avast to pay consumers $16.5 million for secretly harvesting and selling their personal information to third-party clients, as revealed in my joint investigation with Motherboard.
I also cover the PC graphics card market. Pandemic-era shortages led me to camp out in front of a Best Buy to get an RTX 3000. I’m now following how President Trump’s tariffs will affect the industry. I’m always eager to learn more, so please jump in the comments with feedback and send me tips.
Read Full Bio
