{"id":25508,"date":"2025-09-16T19:05:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-16T19:05:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/25508\/"},"modified":"2025-09-16T19:05:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T19:05:10","slug":"spacex-planning-first-tests-of-new-direct-to-device-spectrum-next-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/25508\/","title":{"rendered":"SpaceX planning first tests of new direct-to-device spectrum next year"},"content":{"rendered":"

PARIS \u2014 SpaceX expects to begin testing direct-to-device services using newly acquired spectrum from EchoStar as soon as the end of next year.<\/p>\n

SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said at the World Space Business Week conference Sept. 16 that the company is now working with a wide range of technology and telecom partners to use S-band spectrum SpaceX purchased for $17 billion in cash and stock last week<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hope to be launching our next-generation direct-to-device satellites in two years, and hopefully maybe have some tests on phones late next year,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The EchoStar spectrum requires SpaceX to deploy a new generation of satellites with payloads compatible with that spectrum. The company also needs partnerships with other firms so that devices can use it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the start, by the way, of a huge amount of work,\u201d Shotwell said of the deal. \u201cWe\u2019re working with chip manufacturers to get the proper chips in phones.\u201d<\/p>\n

SpaceX will need new agreements with mobile network operators. The company was already working with them under earlier plans to use terrestrial mobile spectrum for direct-to-device services, but now that it owns spectrum, \u201cwe want to work with them almost providing capacity, kind of wholesaling capacity to their customers,\u201d Shotwell said.<\/p>\n

She argued that effort will be more efficient than the \u201cclunky\u201d approach of negotiating with individual operators for spectrum rights.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we cross a border into another country, we now need to leverage a different licensed spectrum, so it\u2019s very clunky,\u201d she said. By contrast, the EchoStar spectrum is cleared globally.<\/p>\n

Shotwell said SpaceX approached EchoStar and its chairman, Charlie Ergen, about a year ago about using its spectrum. \u201cWe\u2019ve known Charlie for a really long time,\u201d she said. \u201cWe talked maybe a year ago, and then again a few months ago. Finally, I said to him, \u2018We should really be working together on the spectrum.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Planning for Starship propellant transfer<\/p>\n

Future versions of Starlink satellites are expected to launch on SpaceX\u2019s Starship, given their larger size. Starship remains in development but completed a largely successful test flight Aug. 26<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy Starship team needed that win,\u201d Shotwell said, a reference to three previous test flights that suffered mission-ending anomalies. \u201cI was really pleased. They did a great job. We met every mission objective that we wanted to.\u201d<\/p>\n

With one more launch planned of the current version 2 Starship, the company\u2019s focus is turning to the more powerful version 3, with a first launch late this year or early next year. \u201cIt\u2019s really the vehicle that could take humans to the moon and Mars,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

A key early test for version 3 will be demonstrating the ability to transfer propellant from one Starship to another in low Earth orbit, enabling refueling for missions beyond LEO. \u201cThat is really the technology, in addition to the heat shield, that is the tough thing in front of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said she was less concerned about docking Starships, given the company\u2019s experience with Dragon missions to the International Space Station, than with the actual propellant transfer.<\/p>\n

\u201cCan we transport propellant?\u201d she said. \u201cIs that propellant cold enough? That is really the experiment. That is what you\u2019ll see from us trying next year.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully it\u2019s not as hard as some of my engineers think it could be,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

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