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.

Why Charter makes sense

Charter already operates Spectrum Mobile, which functions as a mobile virtual network operator, reselling wireless service on someone else’s network. In March 2025, the company launched a partnership with Skylo to provide satellite-based emergency messaging on select devices through its Spectrum Mobile brand.

The bigger picture

These discussions are happening against the backdrop of SpaceX’s IPO preparations. The company’s IPO documents outline plans for a product called Starlink Mobile, targeting what it describes as a $740 billion addressable market. The ambition tracks with the scale of the US communications market, which spans approximately $1.6 trillion.

TD Cowen analyst Gregory Williams has noted that T-Mobile could be a prime acquisition target for SpaceX, given their existing partnership.