The FCC Just Handed SpaceX More Spectrum for Starlink Mobile

Credit: SpaceX

The Federal Communications Commission has approved SpaceX’s purchase of three unused wireless licenses from Mississippi-based Tristar, adding 15 MHz of spectrum to the company’s next-generation Starlink direct-to-cell network.

In a Memorandum Opinion and Order adopted and released on October 21, 2026, the FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau signed off on the deal. A SpaceX subsidiary, Starlink Spectrum Holdings, will buy all of TLG Unpaired Holdings, the Tristar unit that holds three unpaired AWS-3 licenses in the 1695 to 1710 MHz band. According to the order, the licenses cover three economic areas spanning 62 counties in eight states, or roughly 4% of the US population.

Tristar never built anything on those airwaves, and the companies told regulators it had planned to use them with EchoStar’s 5G network, a plan that fell apart after EchoStar handed its own AWS-3 and other spectrum to SpaceX earlier this year. Unbuilt licenses normally go back to the FCC to be auctioned again, and the order says the licenses were technically due to expire on July 5, 2026, but stayed alive because renewal applications were filed in time.

To let the sale go through, the bureau waived the old tower-based construction requirements, the license renewal standard and the rule that cancels licenses after long periods with no service, saying strict enforcement would leave the spectrum sitting unused. In return, SpaceX has to meet the same satellite build-out targets the FCC attached to the EchoStar spectrum, measured on uplink speed and spectral efficiency at two, four and nine years after November 30, 2027.

Because this band is uplink only, it carries signals from phones up to the satellites rather than down to them. The FCC said the extra airwaves help SpaceX piece together a continuous AWS-3 footprint for 5G, direct-to-device service or a mix of both, and could add competition for people in areas where regular cell coverage doesn’t reach. Even after the deal, SpaceX holds at most 75 MHz of mobile spectrum in any of the affected areas, well under the level that triggers a deeper competition review.

No one filed a petition to block the deal, and the order says the only filing was one general comment about SpaceX that the FCC found didn’t address the transaction itself. The decision took effect immediately, and petitions for reconsideration can be filed within 30 days.

This adds to a busy month for SpaceX’s phone ambitions. The FCC approved up to 15,000 next-generation direct-to-cell satellites on October 6, SpaceX bought 800 MHz spectrum to round out a US carrier play, and Elon Musk said Starlink Mobile could bring in hundreds of billions a year.

The order doesn’t list what SpaceX is paying Tristar, and it doesn’t say when the purchase will formally close or when Starlink phones will actually start using this slice of spectrum.

Would better satellite coverage on your phone be enough to make you switch carriers?