SpaceX Unveils Starlink Mobile: “Epic” Satellite Cellular Connection With Speeds Of Up To 150 Mbps
Credit: SpaceX
At MWC 2026, SpaceX announced its “epic” mobile communications system, Starlink Mobile, which will begin operations in mid-2027. The service will not compete with, but rather complement, the services of terrestrial mobile operators.
Each Starship launch will carry 50 Starlink Mobile V2 satellites. The company’s goal is to deploy 1,200 satellites within six months to achieve global, continuous coverage.
Starlink Mobile coverage will include the polar regions. The total throughput of the V2 satellites will exceed 100 gigabits for download and 50 gigabits for upload, making them comparable to current Starlink broadband satellites.
Second-generation Starlink Mobile satellites promise 20 times higher link performance than the first generation. They also boast a phased antenna array five times larger than V1.
V2 satellites will have 100 times the data density of V1 and 16 times more beams per satellite. Download speeds of up to 150 Mbps on smartphones are expected.
The company’s CEO, Elon Musk, even considered competing with terrestrial mobile operators, but Starlink Mobile has now positioned itself as a complement to what its terrestrial partners offer. “Starlink Mobile is a key component of a hybrid network that includes terrestrial and satellite infrastructure. Satellite communications complement terrestrial networks; they cannot provide the same data density. However, they can expand the capabilities of terrestrial networks in areas where they cannot reach, or when terrestrial networks require additional bandwidth,”SpaceX explained.
