EchoStar Corporation has agreed to sell wireless spectrum licenses worth about $17 billion to SpaceX for its Starlink satellite network, a move aimed at easing regulatory concerns over the underutilisation of its assets for 5G service rollout. The announcement on Monday sent EchoStar’s shares soaring nearly 22% in premarket trading.
The deal comes after months of scrutiny from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which questioned whether EchoStar was meeting its obligations to deploy 5G services. U.S. President Donald Trump had also urged the company and FCC leadership to resolve the matter. EchoStar said the sale to SpaceX, alongside a previously announced $23 billion spectrum deal with AT&T, would address the regulator’s concerns.
Under the agreement, SpaceX will pay up to $8.5 billion in cash and another $8.5 billion in stock while also covering about $2 billion in EchoStar’s debt interest payments through 2027. Both companies also struck a commercial partnership that will allow EchoStar’s Boost Mobile subscribers to access Starlink’s direct-to-cell service. Despite losing control of major spectrum for 5G deployment, EchoStar will continue operating Dish TV, Sling, Hughes internet, and Boost Mobile.
The FCC has been pushing for better utilisation of scarce spectrum resources, while SpaceX has argued that EchoStar’s frequencies in the 2 gigahertz band remained underused. With this acquisition, SpaceX will be able to operate Starlink direct-to-cell services on its own frequencies instead of relying solely on leases from carriers like T-Mobile. The move is expected to strengthen Starlink’s growing low-Earth orbit satellite network, which already serves militaries, transport firms, and rural communities worldwide.