CancelledUncrewed Mars landing 2018
“Planning to send Dragon to Mars as soon as 2018. Red Dragons will inform overall Mars architecture, details…”
“the chipset has to be modified to add these frequencies and that probably is a 2-year time frame. So the phones that are able to use the spectrum that was acquired probably start shipping in around 2 years.”
▶ WATCH HIM SAY IT — ELON MUSK AT THE ALL-IN SUMMIT (ALL-IN PODCAST, PUBLISHED SEP 10 2025), STARLINK DIRECT-TO-CELL SEGMENT ~17:08
The fine print
Direct-to-cell, NOT a 'Starlink phone': the claim is that existing handsets get chipset support for the 2 GHz AWS-4/H-block spectrum SpaceX is buying from EchoStar (~$17B), with matching satellites built in parallel. In Feb 2026 Musk tweeted 'We are not developing a phone' (Reuters report) — consistent with this, since the prediction is about handset-maker chipset support, not SpaceX phone hardware.
The Progression
Sep 10, 2025
The promise: “the chipset has to be modified to add these frequencies and that probably is a 2-year time frame. So the phones that are able to use the spectrum that was acquired probably start shipping in around 2 years.” · Elon Musk at the All-In Summit (All-In Podcast, published Sep 10 2025), Starlink direct-to-cell segment ~17:08 17:08 ↗
Today · Jun 26, 2026
Status: Pending · 461 days left. Still waiting.
At the All-In Summit (published Sep 10, 2025), Musk said the phones able to use the 2 GHz spectrum SpaceX is acquiring from EchoStar would 'probably start shipping in around 2 years' once handset chipsets are modified to add the new frequencies, with SpaceX building matching direct-to-cell satellites in parallel. The end state he described is a Starlink account that works like a normal carrier for high-bandwidth connectivity both at home and direct to phone, putting the milestone around the second half of 2027.
Receipts
LAST CHECKED 2026-06-26- [VIDEO] Elon Musk at the All-In Summit (All-In Podcast, published Sep 10 2025), Starlink direct-to-cell segment ~17:08 @ 17:08
- [REPORT] TechCrunch — SpaceX's $17B EchoStar spectrum deal (context for the frequencies referenced)
More from the feed
Cancelled
PartialStarship reaches orbit
“This is going to sound totally nuts, but I think we want to try to reach orbit in less than six months.”
goalposts: 2020 → 2021 → 2022 · moved 2×
Delivered · LateGlobal Starlink coverage by end of 2021
“Most of Earth by end of year, all by next year, then it's about densifying coverage.”
/// The Daily Verdict
Know the moment a prediction lands — or doesn't.
One email a day, only when something changes: a new promise, a blown deadline, a goalpost move, or a rare on-time delivery. No spam, instant unsubscribe.
Discussion