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On 8 September 2025, SpaceX stated that it had entered a purchase agreement with EchoStar for 50 megahertz (MHz) of the exclusive S-band spectrum in the United States and for global mobile satellite service licenses. The company presented this transaction as the foundation for a next-generation Starlink “Direct to Cell” constellation intended to deliver broadband connectivity to standard, unmodified smartphones worldwide.
SpaceX also recounted the first phase of the program: the launch of Direct to Cell payloads beginning in January 2024, early demonstrations of texting and video calling on ordinary handsets, and the subsequent deployment of more than six hundred Direct to Cell satellites integrated with the broader laser-linked Starlink fleet. It further claimed active service across five continents, several million users, and roaming-style integration with mobile network operators (MNOs), positioning Direct to Cell as a complement to TNs.
Within the same update, SpaceX outlined its technical trajectory for the second generation. It described satellites built around SpaceX-designed silicon and large phased-array antennas capable of producing thousands of beams, and it asserted order-of-magnitude gains, approximately 20-fold per-satellite throughput and more than 100-fold system capacity, relative to the initial layer.
According to the company, an exclusive midband spectrum and “optimized 5G protocols for satellite connectivity” would enable experiences comparable to terrestrial cellular service in many environments, delivered in partnership with MNOs. Independent reporting the same week corroborated the existence and scale of the EchoStar transaction and noted the commercial tie-ins envisaged for handset service.
Full Article: IEEE Vehicular Technology Magazine, Volume 20, Number 4, December 2025
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