SpaceX Eyes 25 Million Starlink Users as Direct-to-Cell Scales

HAWTHORNE, Calif. — SpaceX is on track to make Starlink one of the largest connectivity providers on Earth, telling investors and industry audiences that the service should surpass 25 million active users by the end of the year. Driving much of that growth is Starlink's direct-to-cell business, which lets ordinary phones connect straight to satellites with no special hardware.

A Mobile Network Built in Orbit

SpaceX executives say the direct-to-cell Mobile brand, launched in 2024, has already passed 10 million subscribers and helped the broader constellation serve more than 16 million unique users. With about 650 first-generation mobile satellites deployed across five continents, Starlink now claims to be the largest 4G coverage provider on the planet by geographic area, filling gaps where terrestrial towers have never reached. Those figures were detailed in a Mobile World Congress keynote reported by SDxCentral.

The service has also proven its value in emergencies, keeping hundreds of thousands of people connected during natural disasters and sending emergency alerts when ground networks failed. SpaceX has positioned satellite connectivity as a complement to terrestrial 5G, augmenting coverage on mountains, at sea and anywhere a cell tower cannot economically reach.

Gen2 Promises Real Broadband

The next act is far more ambitious. SpaceX's second-generation constellation, expected to begin launching in 2027, is designed to deliver what the company calls terrestrial-like connectivity, with download speeds up to 150 Mbps to unmodified phones. Each Gen2 satellite will carry a phased-array antenna five times larger than the original, offering roughly 100 times the data density of today's mobile satellites and throughput exceeding 100 Gb/s.

To power that leap, SpaceX is drawing on mid-band spectrum acquired from EchoStar and modern 5G non-terrestrial-network standards, aiming for global, continuous coverage with an initial batch of about 1,200 satellites. It is the kind of vertically integrated bet, from rockets to silicon to spectrum, that has defined the company's advantage.

Momentum on the Ground and in the Sky

The connectivity push rides on a launch cadence few can match. SpaceX has been stacking Starlink missions at a relentless pace, including its 80th Starlink launch of the year, and it keeps winning long-term access to new markets, such as a 10-year Starlink license in the UAE.

Each launch adds capacity, each new market adds subscribers, and each hardware generation widens the gap with rivals. If SpaceX clears 25 million users this year and Gen2 delivers the broadband speeds it has promised, the company will have turned a constellation of satellites into a global mobile carrier, connecting the parts of the world that traditional networks left behind.