Starlink 5G in every phone as SpaceX develops mobile satellite Internet chip to leverage Dish spectrum

SpaceX plans to start launching its V3 satellites next year, marking the start of its gigabit network. Starlink's latest satellites are the size of a Boeing 737 when offer 10x the throughput capacity of the current V2 generation, or 1 Tbps. Peak Starlink speeds will then exceed 1 Gbps downloads and 160 Gbps uploads, with the uplink being 24x than what is available on the Starlink network now.

Needless to say, the gigabit Starlink speeds can only be experienced with dedicated gear, and the only dish capable of supporting such speeds now is the pricey Performance kit that targets enterprise customers. At some point, Starlink may also upgrade the Starlink Standard dish that is currently discounted on Amazon to support gigabit speeds, at least on paper, but it also plans to offer fast satellite Internet connectivity to cell phones directly.

The upcoming launch of its direct-to-cell V3 satellite constellation will allow it to create a 5G Starlink network beaming data from space, and SpaceX is already mulling how to bring a Starlink connection to every phone. Currently, phones in the new Pixel 10 series, or the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Z Flip 7, can hook up to the Starlink direct-to-cell satellites with a tack-on solution, but, after acquiring $17 billion worth of Dish spectrum, SpaceX is mulling a more integrated approach.

It is reportedly now in talks with major mobile processor makers to include a custom Starlink satellite connectivity chip in their silicon. The new chipsets will be able to connect iPhones, Pixels, Samsung Galaxies, and others, to the future Starlink 5G service directly, without the current dish kit intermediary.

The first phones with those Starlink chips will be tested in 2026 and Starlink plans to finish its V3 direct-to-cell satellite constellation in 2027, by which point most phones should be able to get fast satellite Internet data directly. Fast is a relative term, though, as SpaceX cautioned that the Starlink service will support the 5G network standard but, being beamed from space, will likely top out at LTE Advanced speeds of about 100 Mbps.

Still, this will be a far cry from today's carrier satellite connectivity services like the T-Satellite partnership with T-Mobile that only allows messaging and image exchange, with a limited number of apps like Google Maps optimized for Starlink direct-to-cell satellite data.

According to Gwynne Shotwell, the President of SpaceX, the company is now developing custom Starlink connectivity modem for major mobile chipset makers of the Qualcomm, Apple, or MediaTek type, in order to "get the proper [Starlink] chip" in all phones, instead of relying on carrier partnerships like T-Satellite. “Now it’s our spectrum, but we want to work with them, almost providing capacity and wholesaling capacity to their customers,” tipped Shotwell.