SpaceX wins FCC approval to launch 15,000 Starlink Mobile satellites
The FCC approved 15,000 next-gen Starlink Mobile satellites and waived SpaceX's need to lease spectrum from a carrier.
what happened
The FCC approved SpaceX's application, filed in September 2025, to launch and operate 15,000 next-generation satellites dedicated to Starlink Mobile on Oct. 6, and granted a waiver letting SpaceX provide wireless service directly without a spectrum-leasing agreement with a terrestrial carrier, per ISPreview UK and Notebookcheck. The new satellites will orbit between 326 and 335 kilometers and use spectrum SpaceX is acquiring from EchoStar (1695-1710MHz, 1915-1920MHz, 1995-2000MHz, 2000-2020MHz and 2180-2200MHz) plus T-Mobile's PCS G-block frequencies (1910-1915MHz and 1990-1995MHz) already backing today's Starlink Mobile service, per ISPreview UK. SpaceX says the new constellation will deliver 5G speeds of up to 150Mbps per user, versus roughly 4Mbps on the current T-Mobile-dependent service, per Notebookcheck. Starlink currently has about 11,160 satellites in orbit for broadband and mobile combined, per ISPreview UK. The grant carries a 15-year license running from first satellite deployment, with 50% of the constellation due in orbit by Oct. 7, 2032 and the remainder by Oct. 7, 2035, and SpaceX's authority over the EchoStar spectrum is conditioned on completing the second step of that transaction; the FCC deferred SpaceX's separate requests for the 2020-2025MHz Earth-to-space band and for the 20.2-21.2GHz and 30.0-31.0GHz bands, citing heavy federal use, per Via Satellite and Light Reading.
why it matters
The spectrum-leasing waiver is the regulatory piece SpaceX needed to sell wireless service on its own terms rather than through a carrier partner like T-Mobile, opening a direct path to compete with AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon for mobile subscribers once the new satellites fly; the scale of the grant, 15,000 satellites on top of the existing fleet, signals the FCC is willing to let SpaceX build out Starlink Mobile capacity well ahead of proven demand, while the deferred spectrum requests and the EchoStar-completion condition show the agency still has real constraints SpaceX hasn't cleared.
signal-to-noise
quick facts
- Companies
- SpaceX
- Category
- regulatory
- Impact
- major
- SNR
- 4 / 5
- Event date
- 2026-10-06
- Published
- 2026-10-07 14:16 UTC