SpaceX is buying spectrum, the airwaves phones use, for Starlink Mobile, its satellite phone network, which it now plans to pair with sites on the ground. The FCC approved its purchase of about 65 MHz from EchoStar on May 12, 2026, and in an October 8 update SpaceX announced another deal, for 800 MHz spectrum. Nothing changes for your phone today: the EchoStar airwaves pass to SpaceX at a final closing targeted for November 30, 2027, and SpaceX’s own pages give no date or prices for its own phone plans. In the US, Starlink’s satellite texting reaches phones today through T-Mobile’s T-Satellite, and on another carrier that needs an unlocked phone with an eSIM.
What SpaceX is buying
The deal covers EchoStar’s licenses for 40 MHz of AWS-4, 10 MHz of H-block and up to 15 MHz of unpaired AWS-3 spectrum, across the US except Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. EchoStar’s latest quarterly report puts the price at about $20 billion. SpaceX is buying licenses, not the company.
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| September 7, 2025 | Purchase agreement signed; the AWS-3 spectrum was added on November 5, 2025 |
| May 12, 2026 | The FCC approves the sale, with conditions, and EchoStar’s spectrum sale to AT&T |
| May 22, 2026 | Step one: the licenses move into a trust held for SpaceX |
| October 6, 2026 | The FCC partly authorizes SpaceX’s next system of 15,000 satellites |
| October 8, 2026 | SpaceX’s update reports a deal for up to 14 MHz of paired 800 MHz spectrum, pending FCC approval |
| About November 30, 2027 | Step two (the target date): the licenses pass to SpaceX |
What the FCC decided
- Satellite targets, not tower targets: coverage, signal and speed goals, measured outdoors, two, four and nine years after November 30, 2027. Miss the final ones in an area and the license there ends automatically.
- Freedom to use the spectrum from space, on the ground, or both.
- A $2.4 billion fund for claims tied to building and running EchoStar’s old 5G network. EchoStar says AT&T paid that sum straight into the fund when the AT&T sale closed on July 28, 2026.
- No service in these bands before step two. The October 6 authorization lets SpaceX launch the new satellites and test them on the way to orbit, with EchoStar’s and the trust’s consent.
What works today
SpaceX already runs a satellite-to-phone network. Starlink says its 650 satellites work with existing LTE phones wherever you can see the sky, and lists T-Mobile as its US partner. T-Mobile sells it as T-Satellite, which its support page says covers:
- Text, picture and audio messages, and sharing your location
- Satellite data for a growing list of apps made to work over it, on select phones
- Texts to 911
- The continental US, Puerto Rico, Hawaii and parts of southern Alaska, outdoors with a clear view of the sky; not always inside buildings, on planes or on cruise ships
It comes with some T-Mobile plans and is a monthly add-on on others, and people with other carriers can sign up too; see T-Mobile’s page for current prices. T-Mobile’s IMEI checker, linked from that page, or its T-Life app shows whether your phone is supported. A separate T-Mobile Text to 911 service covers eligible phones without a built-in satellite emergency feature; iPhone 14 and later already have one.
Why an unlocked phone matters
If you’re not a T-Mobile customer, T-Mobile’s rule is short: “To use T-Satellite, you’ll need an unlocked, satellite optimized phone with eSIM capabilities.” The service goes on as an eSIM beside your main carrier’s SIM, and T-Mobile warns that a locked phone may block it. Phones bought straight from Apple or Samsung are likely unlocked; ones bought through a carrier may be locked. Our guide to locked and unlocked phones explains the difference.
- 1On an iPhoneSettings → General → About → Carrier Lock. “No SIM restrictions” means it’s unlocked.
- 2On a Samsung GalaxySettings → Connections → Mobile networks → Network operators. If several carriers are listed, it’s likely unlocked, T-Mobile’s page says.
- 3Check the IMEIOur free checks show the model and carrier lock, a few a day with no sign-up; for an iPhone, Apple Simlock/Model Status gives both in one report. More ways are in what carrier is my phone locked to.
- 4
Boost Mobile customers
Boost Mobile belongs to EchoStar. EchoStar says it moved all customer traffic off its own 5G network onto AT&T’s by November 15, 2025, keeping its own core network, a set-up it calls a hybrid MNO. It also says the SpaceX agreement provides for future deals that would let it offer its customers Starlink Direct to Cell text, voice and broadband, using the spectrum that passes to SpaceX at the final closing. No start date is given.
Your unlock rules haven’t moved. Boost’s unlocking policy, updated November 10, 2025, unlocks a postpaid phone once its financing is paid off, or at once if you paid in full, and a prepaid phone one year after activation, once any phone balance is paid and the account isn’t suspended. Boost says it unlocks eligible phones remotely within two business days, or tells you if it can’t do that remotely. It can’t unlock other carriers’ phones, and the policy doesn’t mention AT&T or SpaceX.
What isn’t known yet
- Whether and when SpaceX will sell its own phone plans, and at what price. SpaceX says the 800 MHz spectrum paves the way for Starlink Mobile to become a major US carrier, but gives no date.
- Which phones will use the new spectrum. SpaceX says most existing mobile devices already support the 800 MHz band, but its pages list no phones.
- Timing. Step two could close before November 30, 2027 or be extended slightly, and the 800 MHz deal still needs FCC approval.
