SpaceX, Globalstar to FCC: Don’t Reconsider Satellite Spectrum Exclusivity
Sateliot had asked the agency to reconsider an April ruling affirming certain direct-to-device bands couldn’t be shared
WASHINGTON, June 18, 2026 – Globalstar and SpaceX are asking federal regulators to shoot down a request to reconsider the exclusivity of some of their satellite spectrum.
That exclusive spectrum will be important to the operators’ plans for offering direct-to-device mobile service that doesn’t rely on terrestrial spectrum owned by the major mobile carriers.
The Federal Communications Commission in April denied requests by multiple satellite operators to access direct-to-device spectrum the agency had previously found had to be exclusive to work properly. Globalstar is the approved operator in one of those, and SpaceX is buying EchoStar’s spectrum rights in another.
Sateliot, one of the smaller operators that has sought access to one of the bands, asked the agency last month to reconsider. The company argued that its petition to use the 2 GigaHertz (GHz) band should not have been dismissed without more in-depth technical analysis, citing the agency’s policy of holding large and small operators to the same standards.
SpaceX and Globalstar said the agency was simply acting on its finding that the bands couldn’t be shared and was right to categorically deny the request.
“Physics dictates that the operation of a new entrant's system utilizing Globalstar's Big LEO spectrum would inevitably cause harmful interference to Globalstar's licensed MSS offerings,” Globalstar outside attorney Stephen Berman wrote in a June 10 filing.
Amazon is in the process of acquiring Globalstar for $11.6 billion, an effort to boost its direct-to-device capabilities and compete with SpaceX’s ambitious plans in the space. Amazon told the FCC last month that acquiring Globalstar’s exclusive spectrum would allow it to provide its own direct-to-device service “faster than any alternative path.”
The company plans to launch a new constellation to support the service, but hasn’t shared details publicly. It said the design would be similar to its Amazon Leo fixed broadband satellites.
SpaceX is in the process of buying EchoStar’s rights to the 2 GHz band that Sateliot was trying to access. The FCC has already approved the $19.6 billion sale, but SpaceX said in its IPO filing the deal is expected to close in 2027.
SpaceX already offers consumer direct-to-device through a partnership with T-Mobile in the U.S., using the carrier’s airwaves. The big three mobile providers have said they’re forming a joint venture to pool their terrestrial spectrum for satellite operators to access, a move seen as an effort to prevent a SpaceX monopoly.
SpaceX went public last week, bringing in more than $85 billion in the largest IPO ever.
At a conference hosted by wireless industry group CTIA, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr last month said he thought there should be at least three satellite operators providing direct-to-device service.
Ligado-AST SpaceMobile
AST SpaceMobile is the third U.S. satellite company pursuing direct-to-device. The company already has clearance to offer service on AT&T and Verizon spectrum — once it has launched enough satellites to operate — but is also looking to use Ligado’s L-band spectrum.
That would allow it to offer direct-to-device without being tied to the carriers’ airwaves.
Ligado’s L-band spectrum was also reaffirmed to be exclusive in the FCC’s April order. The agency hasn’t yet approved the companies’ request for AST to hold payloads using Ligado spectrum on a new 96-satellite constellation called SkyTerra Next.
Iridium, which uses adjacent airwaves, has opposed the Ligado-AST plan on the grounds it would create interference. Inmarsat has also told the FCC it opposed the deal, but later retracted the opposition.
AST paid Inmarsat more than $400 million in exchange for its support of the deal, but there was a dispute as to whether AST and Ligado had done necessary coordination work with incumbents. A judge ruled that regardless, the companies’ agreement blocked Inmarsat from opposing the deal and forced the retraction.
In response to technical questions from the FCC, Ligado said in a June 11 filing that it couldn’t disclose the exact frequencies the new system would use as it was “confidential sensitive business information.” The company said the new constellation “is poised to deliver a true space-based mobile broadband service to American consumers which is clearly in the public interest and advances the Commission’s goal of ubiquitous connectivity.”
A group of opponents to Ligado and AST’s plan, including Iridium and the American Meteorological Society, met with agency staff the next day to voice their concerns.
“It is unclear if Ligado has completed coordination with other L-band users,” the group wrote in a presentation. “Ligado should be required to complete coordination with other L-band users before it is permitted to operate the SkyTerra Next system.”
