Elon Musk has made no secret of his hopes of turning SpaceX into a viable competitor to mobile companies like Verizon and AT&T. But with the Democrats’ resounding victory in the 2026 midterm elections, that plan is suddenly thrown into question.
SpaceX has been busy over the past month making deals and positioning itself to step into the mobile space. In October, it bought an 800 MHz spectrum portfolio from private equity firm Grain Management, which had acquired it from T-Mobile following its 2020 merger with Sprint. And earlier this week, SpaceX struck a deal with Qualcomm to build out base stations for its planned mobile carrier. Taken together, those moves bring the company closer to entering the market.
But to launch the new division, SpaceX will also have to jump through legislative hoops, something that could be significantly more challenging with the Democrats in charge.
Several Democratic candidates made it clear they planned to target Musk—who spent $500 million trying to stop the blue wave—should the party gain a majority in the midterms.
Some lawmakers want to explore potential conflicts of interest in the billions of dollars Musk’s companies receive in federal contracts and subsidies. Others have questions about his possible role in throttling internet access to Ukraine’s army. And several want to do a deep dive into Musk’s role at DOGE (the Department of Government Efficiency that he spearheaded)—which accessed tremendous amounts of sensitive data.
Last December, Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Democratic Representative Greg Casar of Texas began warning about SpaceX’s possible entry into the mobile market amid a proposed deal to acquire some wireless spectrum licenses from EchoStar.
That deal, they wrote at the time, “would help Musk expand SpaceX’s Starlink capacity and provide an opportunity for the company to gain ‘firepower’ in the satellite communications industry that competitors will struggle to compete with. . . . The close relationship of Mr. Musk to the Trump administration and to key Trump administration officials make it particularly important that the FCC and DOJ engage in a robust, independent, and impartial review.”
The deal, valued at $17 billion, ultimately went through.
Building a network
SpaceX didn’t stop there. Last month’s purchase of the 800 MHz spectrum portfolio seemed mundane at first glance. That frequency was used by Sprint to power its push-to-talk/walkie-talkie-like features in 2004. SpaceX, though, saw it as a way to bypass building an expensive, complex network of repeaters across the U.S. and the globe, when used in conjunction with its Starlink satellites.
“Starlink’s satellite signal at 2 GHz can reach your phone outdoors, but it dies at the first wall,” wrote Aakash Gupta, a product management leader, creator, and educator in a post on X. “800 MHz penetrates buildings. Most phones already have the band built in. So satellites handle the open sky, this low-band layer handles indoors, and suddenly Starlink Mobile covers everywhere a normal carrier does without the tower network.”
Musk was similarly upbeat, writing on X that the portfolio is “the last critical piece of the spectrum puzzle needed for SpaceX to provide complete phone coverage in America.”
The deal with Qualcomm will enhance the cellular infrastructure and enable high-capacity coverage for Starlink Mobile. There are even reports SpaceX is in talks to buy Boost Mobile or use its network, which would give Musk another entry into the mobile market.
Allies and advantages
Come January, Musk will have significantly fewer friends on Capitol Hill—and many more enemies.
“We must get big money out of our politics, so no billionaire or trillionaire can buy our elections,” James Talarico, the Democratic Senator-elect from Texas, said in his victory speech. “We must unrig this economic system that only benefits the top 1%.”
Musk does have one powerful card up his sleeve, however. His relationship with President Donald Trump, which has been rocky in the past, is on solid footing once more, and Trump still controls executive agencies, including the Federal Communications Commission, which could help SpaceX’s entry into the market.
Timing could also play to Musk’s advantage. Verizon’s CEO has estimated it will take at least four years for SpaceX to become a viable player in the market. Musk claimed it would take half that time, but it’s worth remembering he has a history of being overly optimistic in his timeline forecasts.
Whether it’s two years, four years, or more, the past few elections have shown that, politically, a lot can change in that span.