MWC

SpaceX Scheduled 2027 Launch of 1,200-Satellite Mobile Constellation

SpaceX said its Starlink Mobile connected thousands during California's wildfires and Japan's earthquakes.

Akul Saxena, Drew Clark

Mar 3, 2026 — 2 min read

Photo of Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX president and chief operating officer, and Starlink Senior Vice President Michael Nicolls, from Mobile World Congress

BARCELONA, March 3, 2026 — SpaceX, the Elon Musk-led aerospace company, said Monday it does not intend to compete with wireless carriers as it expands Starlink Mobile, its direct-to-cell satellite service.

“We are not building a replacement for terrestrial mobile networks,” Michael Nicolls, senior vice president of Starlink engineering at SpaceX, said during the company’s Mobile World Congress keynote. He said the system was designed to extend carrier coverage into remote areas and maintain service when towers or backhaul links fail.

SpaceX said it has fully deployed its first-generation direct-to-cell constellation and will begin launching a second-generation system in 2027 designed to deliver download speeds of up to 150 megabits per second.

First-generation deployment

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MWC MWC2026 Barcelona D2C Gwynn Shotwell Spain SpaceX Starlink S-Band Starlink Mobile Starship Palisades Wildfires Kamchatka Aomori Japan Michael Nicolls

California Regulators to Fund Fiber Projects with $32,000 in Per-Location Costs on Average

In one project, the CPUC is spending $3.8 million to connect 72 unserved locations at $54,100 per location, while the state's BEAD plan calls for funding Amazon Leo at $1,086 per location