SpaceX Looking to Participate in AWS-3 Auction
The satellite company is already buying unpaired AWS-3 licenses from EchoStar, which it plans to use for its direct-to-cell mobile service.
WASHINGTON, March 27, 2026 – SpaceX is seeking eligibility to participate in the upcoming re-auction of AWS-3 spectrum licenses.
The satellite company was among the list of applicants posted by the Federal Communications Commission Thursday. The agency is set to begin the auction, in which it will sell off licenses returned by EchoStar, on June 6. AWS-3 spectrum is used by the wireless carriers to provide mobile service.
“It's super interesting that SpaceX/Starlink might be bidding in the AWS-3 auction,” Mike Dano, Ookla’s lead industry analyst, posted on LinkedIn. “Presumably SpaceX/Starlink wants to use AWS-3 spectrum for their ‘direct to device’ D2D business.”
SpaceX purchased $19.6 billion worth of spectrum licenses from EchoStar last year, including $2.6 billion worth of unpaired AWS-3 uplink licenses. The satellite company, controlled by Elon Musk, is reportedly aimed to go public this year.
The satellite operator told the FCC that it wanted to use that AWS-3 spectrum, along with 2 GigaHertz (GHz)/AWS-4 and PCS H-block spectrum also purchased from EchoStar, for its direct-to-cell mobile service.
SpaceX is planning to launch a new 15,000-satellite constellation to support that service, now called Starlink Mobile, which will require FCC approval. The company currently has 650 satellites that support its direct-to-cell service, offered through a partnership with T-Mobile in the U.S. on the carrier’s spectrum.
Michael Calabrese, head of the Wireless Future Project at New America, said in an email that SpaceX “seems especially likely” to bid on the two 1695-1710 MHz licenses that will be up for grabs. That’s the uplink band it’s already buying most of from EchoStar.
He said the wild card would be whether SpaceX bids for more of the 200 total licenses on offer.
“That would be a strong signal that SpaceX is at least contemplating a direct to cell service with at least 3G capabilities and that could operate in any location nationwide without relying on spectrum licensed by mobile carriers,” he said. The extra spectrum would give SpaceX “more options to partner with mobile device makers or to even sell services to consumer and business customers directly.”
When unveiling the Starlink Mobile brand at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this month, SpaceX executives pitched the service as primarily complimenting the offerings of terrestrial mobile carriers rather than competing head-to-head with them.
“Satellite is complementary to terrestrial networks” Michael Nicolls, SpaceX’s vice president of satellite engineering, said at the time. “It can augment terrestrial networks in the places where terrestrial networks cannot reach, or when terrestrial networks need additional capacity.”
SpaceX’s application to participate in the AWS-3 auction was actually incomplete, as were the submissions from T-Mobile, Verizon, and 11 others. Five companies submitted complete applications, including AT&T.
Incomplete applicants have until April 8 to fix their submissions, the FCC said.
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