Your next phone might connect directly to satellites orbiting overhead, bypassing mobile towers entirely. SpaceX’s $17 billion acquisition of EchoStar’s spectrum marks a turning point that could put satellite connectivity in every pocket within three years, reports analyst Brian Wang at NextBigFuture.
Today’s satellite-to-phone services barely function. Apple’s emergency SOS takes up to two minutes to connect and frequently drops out. But Wang projects a dramatic shift, with the transition moving from services that “barely work in 2025 to a mature mostly 4G service in 2028” as satellites and satellite-optimised phones deploy.
In 2025, SpaceX Starlink remains the only continuous coverage service, offering basic texting, voice and low-speed data at 3G speeds. All providers will build out coverage and reliability in 2026. Then comes the inflection point. “2027 is when higher speed direct to satellite services and phones to support them will be good for early adopters of 3G-4G,” says Wang. Full deployment arrives in 2028 with 15,000 Starlink satellites and widespread phone compatibility.
Current phones won’t work, however. Satellite connections require fundamentally different hardware than ground-based mobile towers. New phones need chips that can track fast-moving satellites, antennas pointing skyward instead of sideways, and 2-4 times more transmission power to reach orbit. The consequences of skipping these modifications mean phones take 15-120 seconds to connect, with 15-30 per cent failure rates.
Big chipmakers adapt for future
Chipmakers are already adapting. Qualcomm, MediaTek and Samsung are building satellite capability into their processors, using AI to predict when satellites will pass overhead and manage seamless handovers. Phones with these Non-Terrestrial Network chips connect 2-5 times more reliably, with AI beam management cutting dropouts by 30-50 per cent.
The hardware changes create a performance divide. SpaceX’s mid-band spectrum from EchoStar needs the most phone modifications but delivers the biggest leap. “Unmodified phones will generally be stuck at about 2-8 Mbps, but the chip, power and antenna modifications and V3 satellites will enable 100+ Mbps communications for SpaceX Starlink by 2026-2027,” says Wang. Apple’s Globalstar partnership, by contrast, works better with unmodified phones but offers slower speeds. Third-generation satellites launching in Q1 2026 will initially target just one megabit per second.
Continuous satellite coverage eliminates mobile dead zones entirely. Underground car parks, rural valleys, anywhere a traditional tower can’t reach become instantly connected. The trade-off is in battery life, as larger batteries are needed to maintain the 1-2 watt transmission power compared to today’s 0.5 watts.
Wang’s timeline marks 2027 as the tipping point when satellite phones become practical for early adopters, with mass-market readiness arriving in 2028. The question shifts from whether satellite phones will happen to how quickly mobile networks adapt to competition from space.
