Starlink Mobile Tops 22 Million Monthly Users

Starlink Mobile is growing quickly, with SpaceX saying that its satellite-to-phone service passed 22 million monthly users at the end of September, a 37% increase in just three months. The milestone was shared during the company’s third-quarter earnings call on Tuesday, alongside new details about its plans to become a major U.S. mobile carrier.

The update came alongside SpaceX’s Q3 results, which highlighted the company’s growing Starlink business and its expanding ambitions beyond traditional satellite internet.

SpaceX has been laying the groundwork for that expansion for some time. Earlier this month, the company announced a deal to acquire additional wireless spectrum, giving it access to frequencies that could help deliver more reliable coverage directly to ordinary smartphones.

On the call, SpaceX President and COO Gwynne Shotwell said the company is preparing for its next major step:

“We surpassed 22 million monthly users on Starlink Mobile as of the end of the quarter, up 37% quarter-over-quarter. Our near-term priority remains flying the mobile V2 constellation through next year and integrating our spectrum purchases to turn on service in early 2028.”

Earlier this month, the FCC authorized SpaceX to deploy 15,000 next-generation Starlink Mobile satellites. According to SpaceX, each new V2 satellite offers over 100 times the bandwidth of the current-generation Starlink Mobile satellites.

CFO Bret Johnsen said SpaceX will begin launching the V2 satellites aboard Starship in 2027. Separately, the company’s earnings release notes its agreement to acquire up to 14 MHz of paired 800 MHz spectrum, a deal SpaceX expects to close by the end of June 2027.

SpaceX executives also pointed to the size of the opportunity, saying on the call that the company sees “a clear path to several hundred billion dollars a year in connectivity revenue.”

For now, Starlink Mobile primarily operates through partnerships with existing telecom providers, including Rogers in Canada. However, the combination of its own spectrum and a much larger satellite constellation could eventually allow SpaceX to compete more directly with established U.S. wireless carriers.

With service turn-on targeted for early 2028, the next year will be critical as SpaceX begins deploying the infrastructure needed to make that happen.

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