Starlink Prep Second Generation Direct-to-Cell 5G Mobile Satellites for 2027

SpaceX has revealed that they’ll aim to launch the first batch of their “greatly enhanced” second generation (GEN2) Direct to Cell (DtC) capable broadband satellites in 2027 (probably Q4). The current service offers basic global coverage of a 4G mobile roaming service to unmodified Smartphones on the ground, typically alongside supporting mobile operators (e.g. O2 in the UK).

Starlink currently has around 9,500 satellites in Low Earth Orbit (c.6,000 are v2 / GEN2 variants) – mostly at altitudes of between c.340-525km. Residential customers in the UK usually pay from £55 a month for the ‘Residential Lite’ unlimited data plan (kit price may vary due to different offers), which promises downloads of up to 200Mbps (previously 250Mbps) and uploads of c.15-35Mbps. Faster packages exist at greater cost, while cheaper, albeit more restrictive (data capped), options also exist for roaming users (e.g. £50 per month for 50 GigaBytes of data).

However, approximately 650 of their active satellites currently also support DtC (aka – Direct-to-Device) technology, which enables them to work with mobile operator’s (e.g. O2 Satellite due to launch soon) to offer a basic 4G style connectivity solution. This ensures customers can stay connected, for basic tasks (calls, texts and pre-approved data apps/tasks), even in remote areas where terrestrial mobile signals are often weak or non-existent.

Despite this, Starlink has long planned to make the service much more capable (likely harnessing the spectrum they will acquire from EchoStar), particularly in terms of mobile broadband performance. Elon Musk has even hinted that the company may launch its own mobile service directly for consumers (here), which could put them into the awkward position of competing with their existing partners (mobile operators).

Whatever the goal, Starlink will need to launch an enhanced set of DtC capable satellites to deliver on their ambitions and a new regulatory filing with the FCC (credits to PC Mag) gives us an idea of when to expect them.

Extract from the FCC Document

Most significantly, the first commercial service to provide global coverage for satellite messaging, data, and voice service directly to ordinary mobile phones has already been deployed and is rapidly expanding. SpaceX’s first generation Supplemental Coverage from Space (“SCS”) service launched in the U.S. in partnership with T-Mobile in July 2025 and has already expanded to 22 countries, providing coverage to over 400 million people, with more than 6 million customers accessing the service each month. But this is only the beginning: SpaceX has also invested in spectrum that will enable it to launch a greatly enhanced second generation direct-to-device system in 2027.

At present we don’t have a lot of solid details on the GEN2 DtC satellites, although it’s understood that they’ll be aiming to deliver 5G-like connectivity and an overall capacity increase of more than 100 times that of the first-generation constellation, as well as more than 20 times the throughput capability.