FCC approves extra 7,500 Starlink satellites
January 12, 2026
By Chris Forrester
January 9th saw the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approve a batch of major requests from SpaceX to increase the size of the Starlink broadband-by-satellite fleet. The decision is notable in that the FCC has wasted no time in coming to its decision, and the benefits to SpaceX are considerable.
The FCC said that it has approved SpaceX’s request to deploy another 7,500 second-generation Starlink satellites as it works to boost internet service worldwide. However, the approval is still short of what SpaceX was seeking (permission for an overall fleet size of 30,000).
SpaceX can now operate an additional 7,500 ‘Gen2’ Starlink satellites, bringing the total to 15,000 satellites worldwide. The FCC is also allowing SpaceX to upgrade the satellites and operate across five frequencies and is waiving prior requirements that prevented overlapping coverage and enhanced capacity. The FCC has granted permission for Starlink to utilise additional Ku, Ka, V and W-bands although there are some geographic restraints. The decision means that Starlink will operate in the Fixed Satellite and Mobile Satellite bands.
But the decision means that as older satellites come to the end of their lives, Starlink can re-equip its fleet with ‘Gen-2’ technology and frequencies up to a current maximum of 15,000 craft.
For example, in this licence, the FCC has granted access to frequencies so high that no one thought commercial satellite services could use them, say informed observers. Now, these frequencies will allow Americans – and others – to have the fastest broadband ever possible, even in the most remote locations.
Starlink already has about 9,400 operational satellite in orbit.
The FCC said the additional satellites will provide direct-to-cell connectivity outside the US and supplemental US coverage within the US, which will allow for next-generation mobile services as well as internet speeds of up to 1 gigabit per second.
“This FCC authorisation is a game-changer for enabling next-generation services,” FCC Chair Brendan Carr said. “By authorising 15,000 new and advanced satellites, the FCC has given SpaceX the green light to deliver unprecedented satellite broadband capabilities, strengthen competition, and help ensure that no community is left behind.”
“We find that authorisation for additional satellites is in the public interest, even as the Gen2 Starlink Upgrade satellites remain untested on orbit. We defer authorisation of the remaining 14,988 proposed Gen2 Starlink satellites, including satellites proposed for operations above 600 km,” the FCC said.
But there are obligations. The FCC said SpaceX must launch 50 per cent of the maximum number of authorised Gen2 satellites, place them in assigned orbits, and operate them no later than December 1st, 2028, and SpaceX must launch the remaining satellites by December 2031. It must complete deployment of the 7,500 first-generation satellites by late November 2027.
There’s one other key element in the FCC’s decision: The FCC is permitting a global charge to eliminate outdated limits (called EPFD, Equivalent Power Flux Density Limits) that – it is argued – unnecessarily reduce the power of next-generation satellite systems such as Starlink.