Sources familiar with the company’s strategy say SpaceX is considering a range of Starlink-powered offerings, including a proprietary mobile device, direct-to-device satellite internet services and a new space-tracking platform. These initiatives would deepen Starlink’s role as the commercial backbone of Elon Musk’s aerospace empire.
At the center of these plans is Starlink, SpaceX’s satellite internet service, which has rapidly scaled alongside the company’s reusable rocket operations. Together, these technologies underpin Musk’s longer-term ambition to support orbiting data centers, a high-cost vision that also supports SpaceX’s recently announced merger with artificial intelligence firm xAI.
According to people familiar with the matter, SpaceX has explored the idea of developing a Starlink-connected mobile device that could one day compete with conventional smartphones. While details around the device’s design or development timeline remain unclear, the concept has reportedly been under consideration for several years.
Starlink has already partnered with T-Mobile to enable satellite connectivity directly to existing mobile phones, a separate initiative from producing a SpaceX-branded handset. Responding recently to online speculation about a Starlink phone, Musk said the idea was “not out of the question,” adding that any such device would differ significantly from current smartphones and would be optimized for high-efficiency artificial intelligence processing.
Starlink has become a critical revenue engine for SpaceX. Sources say the company generated approximately $15 billion to $16 billion in revenue last year, with profits estimated at around $8 billion. Starlink accounted for roughly 50 to 80 percent of that total, making it the company’s primary commercial driver.
SpaceX has also made a major push into cellular communications through its $19.6 billion acquisition of satellite spectrum from EchoStar. While some industry observers see this as a potential challenge to traditional mobile network operators such as Verizon and AT&T, SpaceX has so far positioned Starlink as a complementary service rather than a direct competitor.
Analysts caution that producing a SpaceX-branded phone could complicate those relationships. Industry experts note that mobile operators may be reluctant to support a device that competes directly with their own ecosystems.
With more than 9 million users worldwide, SpaceX is already the largest satellite operator globally. Its Starlink network, which has grown to about 9,500 satellites in just six years, also supports government contracts and the company’s military-focused Starshield service.
About 650 of those satellites are dedicated to SpaceX’s emerging direct-to-device connectivity program, which aims to provide full cellular coverage across the globe. The success of this effort depends heavily on the company’s Starship rocket, which is expected to deploy larger, more powerful batches of Starlink satellites. Musk has said each future Starship launch could expand Starlink’s network capacity by more than 20 times.
Analysts estimate that the direct-to-device satellite market could be worth billions of dollars over the next several years. Reflecting that ambition, SpaceX filed a trademark for “Starlink Mobile” last October and has submitted patent applications this year covering technologies designed to improve satellite connections with small, mobile devices.
Beyond communications, SpaceX is also leveraging Starlink for space-based monitoring. Last week, the company announced a new service called Stargaze, which will use maneuvering cameras already installed on Starlink satellites to track congestion and activity in low-Earth orbit. The service aims to address the lack of international standards for satellite traffic management.
While SpaceX plans to make some of the data freely available, Stargaze could become a valuable tool for U.S. government agencies, including the Pentagon and the Office of Space Commerce, which are working to improve space-tracking capabilities.
However, the move has raised concerns among some industry observers about overreliance on a single commercial provider. Former Office of Space Commerce head Richard DalBello said Stargaze could offer fast and effective tracking for low-Earth orbit systems but warned that it should not become the sole solution for government space-traffic monitoring.
As SpaceX accelerates its commercial ambitions, Starlink continues to evolve from a satellite internet service into a multi-purpose platform that could shape communications, data infrastructure and space management well beyond Earth’s surface.