Europe moves to box in Starlink with new satellite spectrum rules

Europe has picked a fight with Starlink, and the weapon of choice is not a lawsuit. It is a spectrum plan. The European Commission wants to carve up a valuable slice of satellite airwaves so that European companies and governments get first dibs. SpaceX, Elon Musk’s company that runs Starlink, would be left waiting for whatever remains. The spectrum being divided The prize is the 2 GHz mobile satellite services band, known in the industry as the MSS band. Only licensed operators can use it, and right now only two hold the keys. Those two are US firms Viasat and EchoStar. Their licenses for the band are set to expire in May 2027. The band matters because of direct-to-device connectivity, or D2D. That means a satellite talking straight to an ordinary smartphone, without a ground tower in between. Under the Commission’s proposal, dated May 27, 2026, the band would be split into three parts: One part for government use, through IRIS², the EU’s planned satellite constellation. One part for newly established EU-based commercial entrants. One part open to all operators, including non-EU players such as Starlink. Run the math and two-thirds of the band ends up reserved for European operato...