updates
EchoStar spectrum deal for direct-to-cell
On September 8, 2025, SpaceX said it would buy EchoStar's 50 MHz of U.S. S-band spectrum and global MSS licenses, and described a first-generation direct-to-cell network of more than 600 satellites.
Topics: space-civilization
This page is an original Muskularity summary. It does not republish SpaceX’s full post. Figures are the company’s statements on the cited date unless another primary link is named.
Summary
SpaceX said a purchase agreement with EchoStar covers 50 MHz of exclusive U.S. S-band spectrum, the bands it called AWS-4 and PCS-H, plus EchoStar’s global mobile-satellite licenses. The stated purpose is a second-generation direct-to-cell constellation with enough spectrum for broadband to ordinary phones, not only messaging.
The status report on the first generation, as SpaceX told it: satellites with the payload began launching in January 2024; texts from unmodified phones followed within days; video calls were demonstrated by spring; and by this post more than 600 direct-to-cell satellites were up and the first-generation constellation was called operational on five continents. SpaceX said the service had connected more than six million users and was the largest 4G coverage provider on Earth. Those are company coverage claims. The satellites fly at 360 kilometers, connect through the Starlink laser mesh to a constellation SpaceX put at more than 8,000 satellites, and are described as working with existing LTE phones when the sky is visible.
Carrier partners named: T-Mobile in the United States, Optus and Telstra, Rogers, One New Zealand, KDDI, Salt, Entel, and Kyivstar, plus others not named. After U.S. hurricanes, floods, and wildfires, SpaceX said more than 1.5 million people used the service while terrestrial networks were down.
The next generation is a performance claim: about 20 times the throughput of a first-generation satellite and more than 100 times the system capacity, aimed at a 5G experience comparable to terrestrial LTE in most places, still sold with mobile operators. Starship is named as the launcher that makes the larger satellites practical.
Key facts
| Fact | Label |
|---|---|
| 50 MHz U.S. S-band plus global MSS licenses in an EchoStar purchase agreement | Company announcement of an agreement |
| More than 600 direct-to-cell satellites; more than 8,000 Starlink satellites | Company constellation counts |
| More than six million users claimed | Company user claim |
| About 20x satellite throughput and more than 100x system capacity versus the first generation | Company design claim |
| Orbital altitude given as 360 km | Company system description |
Why it matters
This is the spectrum step between the 2022 T-Mobile announcement and the October 2026 low-band post. Messaging in dead zones and a full phone network are different products. SpaceX is explicit that the capacity jump depends on spectrum it had agreed to buy and on satellites not yet described as the operational constellation.
On this site
Sources
- SpaceX update, September 8, 2025 — Grade A, company post
- Starlink Direct to Cell page — Grade A, product page
- SpaceX PDF on the first direct-to-cell text — Grade A, company technical note
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