SpaceX Still Pushing for Access to EchoStar’s 2 GHz Spectrum
The FCC is probing EchoStar's use of the airwaves.
WASHINGTON, July 3, 2025 – SpaceX again pushed Federal Communications Commission staff to open the 2 GigaHertz band for sharing in a meeting last week.
“EchoStar’s failure to deploy MSS in the band has deprived consumers of that service for over a decade,” Jameson Dempsey, SpaceX’s director of satellite policy, wrote in an ex parte filing posted Wednesday. “The Commission therefore should clarify that EchoStar’s market access in the band has expired and, in parallel, open the band for new competitive entry, including from U.S.-licensed satellite systems that have shown a willingness and ability to share that spectrum.”
Dempsey and other SpaceX representatives met virtually on June 27 with Jay Schwartz, head of the FCC’s Space Bureau, and other agency staff, according to the filing.
FROM SPEEDING BEAD SUMMIT
Panel 1: How Are States Thinking About Reasonable Costs Now?
Panel 2: Finding the State Versus Federal Balance in BEAD
Panel 3: Reacting to the New BEAD NOFO Guidance
Panel 4: Building, Maintaining and Adopting Digital Workforce Skills
SpaceX has been pushing hard to get access to EchoStar’s 2 GHz band, set aside for the mobile-satellite service SpaceX is looking to expand. A petition from the company prompted an FCC inquiry into whether EchoStar is using the spectrum efficiently.
That, combined with another FCC docket taking input on whether it should reconsider a 2024 decision to extend 5G buildout deadlines for some of EchoStar’s other licenses, has put the company in a precarious position.
EchoStar cited the uncertainty from the inquiries when it missed another $114 million in interest payments Tuesday. The company had missed more payment deadlines last month, but ultimately made the payments within a 30-day grace period, staving off potential bankruptcy.
SpaceX wants the FCC to open up the 2 GHz band for sharing with other companies like itself. EchoStar maintains this would effectively make its license to use the band worthless, as interference would be too difficult to mitigate. EchoStar uses the same band for terrestrial 5G service, and said it can only effectively coordinate if all operations are in-house.
EchoStar does not offer an American service using the band, but has maintained its two operational satellites to satisfy its FCC obligations. The company has launched an additional satellite for testing a U.S.-based service, and plans to launch another.
Other satellite companies also want in on the band, but stakeholders, including conservative think tanks and recently retired FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington, broadly sided with EchoStar in comments to the agency. They said the proceedings were disproportionate to the company’s alleged offenses and made everyone else’s spectrum licenses feel less certain.
EchoStar confirmed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission this week reports that President Donald Trump intervened in the dispute after a meeting between EchoStar Chairman Charlie Ergen and FCC Chairman Brendan Carr went poorly. Trump urged a solution that would avoid bankrupting the company.
At the agency’s meeting last week, Carr said the FCC would act “soon” on the issue.
“We are really working hard to make sure that this valuable public resource of spectrum is put to use,” Carr said. “No new news to break. But I think the status quo needs to change. There’s lots of different paths forward there, and all options are still on the table at the FCC.”
SpaceX is controlled by Elon Musk, the major GOP donor and former close advisor to President Donald Trump. The two are apparently on the outs after Musk’s public campaign against the Republican budget bill, with Trump musing to reporters about ending Musk’s government contracts and subsidies.
