President Gwynne Shotwell told investors during a recent IPO roadshow that SpaceX could build its own terrestrial mobile network
NurPhoto / Getty Images
A push into direct consumer sales of mobile service — one that would place SpaceX alongside Verizon $VZ, AT&T $T, and T-Mobile $TMUS as a rival — is now in the company's plans, the Financial Times reported, drawing on people with knowledge of the situation.
At a recent IPO roadshow, investors heard from President Gwynne Shotwell that a retail Starlink product is under consideration and that SpaceX might construct its own ground-based mobile network in the United States, Reuters reported. SpaceX did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The disclosure represents a more ambitious direction than SpaceX's existing arrangement. Through its existing T-Mobile arrangement, SpaceX beams a supplemental signal from orbit to fill coverage gaps in areas that ground-based towers cannot serve. Selling under its own retail banner would allow SpaceX to reach subscribers without routing business through the carrier partnerships that today mediate access to its satellite network.
Grounding the ambition in hardware, SpaceX paid roughly $17 billion for wireless spectrum licenses from EchoStar — the kind of terrestrial frequency rights that operating an independent network demands. A follow-on deal worth $2.6 billion, also involving EchoStar spectrum, closed in November and extended the company's ability to deliver direct-to-cell service over those frequencies.
No price or launch date has been announced. The plan, as described to investors, remains at an early stage, and the reporting rests on unnamed sources rather than a SpaceX announcement.
Formidable barriers stand in the way. The three dominant carriers have each invested vast sums over many years to establish the infrastructure, storefronts, and subscriber loyalty that define the U.S. mobile market. The service SpaceX currently operates fills coverage gaps rather than functioning as a primary mobile plan.
Starlink is central to SpaceX's business. The satellite internet unit contributed $11.39 billion of the company's $18.67 billion in total 2025 revenue and has more than 10 million subscribers. SpaceX completed its IPO on June 12, raising nearly $86 billion at a valuation above $2 trillion — the largest initial public offering on record. The IPO roadshow in which Shotwell made the mobile disclosure was part of that process.
By subscriber count and annual revenue, the domestic mobile market dwarfs what Starlink has assembled through its satellite-broadband operations — with hundreds of millions of potential customers and tens of billions in annual dollars at stake.
Join 500,000+ readers who start their day with Quartz.
By subscribing, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
