SpaceX and Charter Communications are in discussions about a partnership to offer consumer mobile phone service, a move that would pair the world’s most valuable private company with the largest cable operator in the US.
From satellites to cell towers
SpaceX has been building toward this moment for years. The company’s Starlink direct-to-cell service, which connects standard smartphones to satellites without specialized hardware, is the technological backbone of its mobile ambitions.
The company already has a partnership with T-Mobile, formed on August 25, 2022, that uses T-Mobile’s spectrum to deliver satellite-based coverage to areas where traditional cell towers don’t reach.
In September 2025, the company acquired roughly $17 billion in AWS-4 and H-block spectrum licenses from EchoStar, giving SpaceX its own spectrum resources to build a mobile network without relying entirely on carrier partners.
