SpaceX has announced it is targeting peak speeds of 150 Mbps per user for its next-generation cellular Starlink service, a roughly 37x jump over the current ~4 Mbps, according to SpaceX satellite policy lead Udrivolf Pica speaking at the ITU Space Connect conference.

The upgrade depends on newly acquired radio spectrum from EchoStar and a planned expansion from the current ~650 cellular-suitable Starlink satellites to 15,000.

“More spectrum means a bigger pipeline, and this means that we can expand what we can do with partners,” Pica said.

Full commercial service is targeted for late 2027 when the EchoStar spectrum deal closes and the capacity becomes available to SpaceX.

The spectrum in the 2 MHz band (1980-2010/2170-2200 MHz) was acquired from EchoStar last year, and includes 50 MHz of exclusive spectrum in the US, as well as capacity over Brazil, Chile and Mexico and globally. The spectrum will support voice, data and video services.

SpaceX observer and industry expert, Sawyer Merritt, commented: “If SpaceX can hit its speed goal, the upgraded cellular Starlink service promises to deliver speeds close to those of traditional cell carriers’ 5G networks on Earth. The median download speeds for T-Mobile’s 5G network currently reach 309Mbps while AT&T’s 5G network comes in at 172Mbps.”

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Tags: Echostar, mobile, satellite, spacex