According to people familiar with the matter, the Space Exploration Technology Company (SpaceX) is expected to launch an initial public offering (IPO) this year, and its core revenue business Starlink is planning to expand into new markets and deploy a variety of new products including Starlink exclusive mobile phones, direct-connect terminal Internet services, and space tracking services.
As the core segment of Elon Musk's business empire, SpaceX continues to expand its development momentum with Starlink's high-speed satellite production line and recyclable rocket technology. These two technical pillars will help Musk realize his vision of building a low-Earth orbit data center - this high-cost layout is also an important support for SpaceX's recently announced merger with artificial intelligence company xAI.
Three people familiar with the matter said that SpaceX’s new plan includes a mobile device connected to the Starlink satellite Internet constellation, which is expected to compete with traditional smartphones.
At present, the specific design details of this device and Musk’s development schedule have not yet been determined. It is worth noting that Starlink has reached a cooperation with T-Mobile in recent years to enable the operator's mobile phones to be directly connected to the Starlink Internet. However, this plan to develop self-developed mobile phones is a completely different business layout from this cooperation.
People familiar with the matter said that SpaceX has been brewing this mobile phone plan for several years. Last week, some X platform users imagined the possibility of Starlink exclusive mobile phones, to which Musk responded that "the future is not completely impossible."
He also said: "This device will be completely different from existing mobile phones, and its design will be completely optimized around the most energy-efficient neural network." The neural network here refers to the human brain-like computing hardware system behind artificial intelligence.
Starlink becomes SpaceX’s core revenue engine
Starlink is a vital source of profit for SpaceX. Two people familiar with the matter revealed that SpaceX's revenue will reach US$15 billion to US$16 billion in 2025, and it will achieve a profit of approximately US$8 billion, of which Starlink contributes 50% to 80% of revenue and is the absolute main revenue force.
In 2025, SpaceX acquired satellite spectrum from EchoStar Communications Company (EchoStar) for US$19.6 billion, becoming its largest investment in cellular communications to date. Although some people believe that this move will pose a competitive threat to mobile network operators (MNOs) such as Verizon and AT&T, SpaceX currently positions itself as a complement to these traditional networks.
Armand Moussi, president of Summit Ridge Group, said: "It would be extremely difficult for Starlink to develop its own mobile phone and compete with mobile network operators - other operators will deliberately avoid using this device. It is like General Motors making car tires but trying to sell them to other car manufacturers."
SpaceX is now the world's largest satellite operator. Its Starlink broadband Internet service users have exceeded 9 million. It also holds government contracts related to Starlink and official cooperation with the military-grade satellite network "Starshield".
Self-developed mobile devices will be a major expansion of SpaceX’s Starlink series of products. In just six years, Starlink has built an Internet constellation consisting of 9,500 satellites, opening up a new market space for the company.
Currently, there are about 650 Starlink satellites in space, tailor-made for SpaceX’s direct-connect terminal business, which is still in its infancy. Musk wrote on the SpaceX blog on Monday that the ultimate goal of the business is to achieve "full global cellular network coverage."
Consistent with the concept of a low-Earth orbit AI data center, the upgrade of Starlink to a cellular-like communication system is highly dependent on the "Starship" rocket - this rocket can launch upgraded Starlink satellites in batches, and its performance is sufficient to support the transmission of better Internet services to mobile phones.
Musk said that every Starlink satellite launch mission of the Starship rocket in the future will increase the communication capacity of the Starlink constellation by more than 20 times.
Although the direct-connect terminal market is still in its early stages of development, analysts expect the market size to exceed billions of dollars in the coming years.
In October 2025, SpaceX submitted a trademark application for "Starlink Mobile"; in 2026, the company applied for a number of technology patents to improve the connection capabilities of Starlink and small mobile devices on the ground, and these devices are not exclusive user terminals for Starlink.
"Star Vision" space tracking service newly launched
Based on the Starlink network, SpaceX officially launched a new product "Stargaze" space tracking service last week. The service will use micro-mobile cameras already onboard Starlink satellites to monitor the increasingly dense satellite traffic in low-Earth orbit - currently, there is no unified international satellite traffic management standard in this area.
SpaceX stated that it will open some monitoring data to satellite operators for free, and this business is particularly attractive to the U.S. government: the U.S. Department of Defense and the Civilian Space Commerce Office are teaming up with a number of U.S. space tracking start-ups (relying on ground radar technology) and SpaceX to jointly upgrade space tracking capabilities.
However, SpaceX’s move to use Starlink to deploy low-Earth orbit tracking services has also aroused concerns among some practitioners in the space tracking industry. They believe that the U.S. government’s core space tracking system may be overly dependent on the company.
Richard Dalbello, former director of the U.S. Space Commerce Office, said that "Star Vision" can provide efficient space tracking services for low-Earth orbit systems, but he also suggested that the U.S. government should not use it as the only tracking channel.