SpaceX Plans New Constellation as Companies Pitch EchoStar Deal to FCC

WASHINGTON, Sept. 23, 2025 – SpaceX is planning to launch a new constellation of direct-to-cell satellites to make use of the 50 megahertz of spectrum it’s buying from EchoStar, the company told the Federal Communications Commission Friday.

“The next generation of Starlink D2C satellites will be designed to fully utilize the spectrum acquired from EchoStar,” the companies wrote in their application. “In most environments, this will enable full 5G cellular connectivity with a comparable consumer experience to current terrestrial LTE service, which will be used in partnership with MNOs to augment high-capacity terrestrial 5G networks.”

The FCC will have to approve both the $17 billion spectrum sale and the new constellation.

The agency appears likely to view the sale favorably, as EchoStar said the SpaceX deal and another spectrum sale to AT&T were efforts to resolve FCC concerns the company wasn’t putting its airwaves to good use.

“The deals that EchoStar reached with AT&T and Starlink hold the potential to supercharge competition, extend innovative new services to millions of Americans, and boost U.S. leadership in next-gen connectivity,” an FCC spokesperson said when the SpaceX deal was announced earlier this month. “The FCC will review the applications and continue our focus on promoting the beneficial use of scarce spectrum resources.”

The new spectrum is in the 2 GigaHertz (GHz)/AWS-4 band and the PCS H-block. The AWS-4 licenses are terrestrial, which SpaceX said would enable it to deploy “a hybrid satellite and terrestrial network, just as the Commission envisioned EchoStar would do.”

SpaceX wants FCC to waive terrestrial buildout requirements 

The company said in a separate filing – a request that the FCC waive terrestrial buildout requirements on AWS-4 licenses – that it could end up “employing terrestrial base stations to enhance capacity where needed.”

Analysts said when the deal was announced that SpaceX trying to compete directly with the major carriers would be unlikely, at least in the near-term – the satellite company didn’t buy up EchoStar’s wireless sites, now set to be decommissioned, and has a fraction of the airwaves at its disposal. They said at the time some kind of leasing agreement with a terrestrial mobile provider would be more likely.

Executives from AT&T and Verizon said earlier this month they weren’t worried about competition from SpaceX, and might be interested in a wholesale partnership with the company once the deal goes through.

SpaceX currently provides direct-to-cell service through a partnership with T-Mobile on the carrier’s airwaves. The satellite company said its new constellation would enable 20 times the throughput of that constellation.

The new constellation the company is aiming for, according to its application obtained by PCMag, would consist of 15,000 satellites. They would fly lower to the ground than SpaceX currently has permission for.

SpaceX will need smartphone manufacturers to put the necessary hardware in their devices before consumers can use the new service, which will take time. Current phones don’t support the airwaves the company is buying.