SpaceX has picked up another batch of wireless spectrum for its satellite-to-phone network, just weeks after striking a deal for low-band spectrum. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has approved SpaceX’s takeover of three unused AWS-3 licences from Tristar License Group, which SpaceX plans to use for its next-generation direct-to-device network.
Direct-to-device service lets an ordinary smartphone connect straight to a satellite when there’s no cell tower nearby. SpaceX offers this through Starlink Mobile, which recently topped 22 million monthly users, although the FCC’s order itself only refers to SpaceX’s direct-to-device network.
According to the FCC order released on October 21, the three licences cover the 1695–1710 MHz band across parts of eight states, reaching about 4% of the U.S. population. The FCC describes this spectrum as “uplink only,” meaning it carries signals from a user’s device up to the network rather than the other way around. The regulator said the deal lets SpaceX put otherwise unused spectrum to work and helps it build “a geographically contiguous footprint of AWS-3 spectrum for 5G, direct-to-device, or a hybrid of both.”
Tristar had planned to use the licences alongside EchoStar’s 5G network, but that plan fell apart once EchoStar handed its own AWS-3 spectrum to SpaceX. With the licences still unbuilt and Tristar unable to meet the renewal standard for reasons outside its control, they would normally have gone back to the FCC to be auctioned off again at some point. No one filed a petition opposing the deal, and the FCC found the risk of harm to competition to be low.
The approval does come with strings attached. Instead of the usual requirement to build out towers on the ground, SpaceX must meet the same satellite buildout conditions as its EchoStar AWS-3 licences. That means showing steadily improving uplink service over 90% of each licence area, with the clock starting on November 30, 2027. If SpaceX misses the final target, it loses the licences and can’t get them back.
Each licence is 5 MHz wide, which combined with SpaceX’s EchoStar licences and those it won in the FCC’s June auction, gives SpaceX coverage across nearly the entire country in this band. That puts SpaceX in a stronger position as it works toward its second-generation cellular Starlink network.
Related Articles:
- SpaceX Moves Closer to Becoming U.S. Mobile Carrier With New Spectrum Deal
- Starlink Mobile Tops 22 Million Monthly Users as SpaceX Eyes Becoming a Major U.S. Carrier
- EchoStar Sells More Spectrum to SpaceX in $2.6B Stock Deal, Accelerating Next-Gen Starlink Direct-to-Cell
- SpaceX Targets 2027 Debut for Second-Gen Cellular Starlink
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