The News: SpaceX filed with the FCC on March 24, 2026, requesting permission to add two new Ku-band spectrum ranges to Starlink hardware — a move designed to significantly increase upload speeds.
Why It Matters: Starlink's current upload speeds (~20–40 Mbps) lag far behind its download performance. This filing is the regulatory first step toward a more balanced, symmetrical connection — critical for video calls, remote work, and data-intensive applications.
Source: @SawyerMerritt on X
Starlink Seeks FCC Approval to Boost Upload Speeds with New Spectrum Access
SpaceX has filed a formal request with the Federal Communications Commission to unlock two additional Ku-band spectrum ranges for its Starlink satellite internet hardware. The goal: fix a long-standing imbalance between download and upload performance that has frustrated users who rely on the service for more than passive streaming.
📊 Key Figures
| Metric | Value | Context |
|---|---|---|
| Current US Median Upload Speed | ~24 Mbps | As of late 2025 |
| Typical Upload Range | 20–40 Mbps | Current Starlink service |
| New Spectrum Bands Requested | 13.75–14.0 GHz & 14.5–14.8 GHz | Ku-band uplink |
| FCC Filings Submitted | 7 | Covers all current dish models |
| Gen3 Uplink Capacity per Satellite | >200 Gbps | 24× more than Gen2 |
| Gen3 Network Capacity per Starship Launch | 60 Tbps | Projected addition |
The Upload Problem — Why This Filing Exists
Starlink's download speeds have always been the headline number. But upload performance has been the quiet frustration for a significant chunk of its user base. According to SpaceX's own FCC filing, there is a 4:1 imbalance between downlink and uplink spectrum in the Ku-band. In plain terms: the pipe coming down to your dish is four times wider than the pipe going back up.
For someone streaming Netflix or browsing the web, that asymmetry is invisible. But for remote workers on video calls, content creators uploading large files, or anyone running a home server, that bottleneck is very real. SpaceX is now asking the FCC to let it use two additional spectrum bands — 13.75–14.0 GHz and 14.5–14.8 GHz — to start correcting that imbalance.
There's a regulatory wrinkle. Current FCC rules require a minimum antenna diameter of 4.5 meters to operate in the 13.75–14.0 GHz band. Starlink dishes are considerably smaller than that, so SpaceX needs a formal waiver — not just an approval — to use this spectrum. That's a meaningful distinction: waivers require the FCC to make an affirmative case-by-case determination, which adds time and uncertainty to the process.
What Hardware Is Covered
SpaceX filed seven separate requests covering its full range of current dishes: the standard Starlink dish, the compact Starlink Mini, the second-generation dish, and the original circular dish. That breadth signals this isn't a next-generation-only upgrade — SpaceX wants existing hardware to benefit from the expanded spectrum if the FCC grants approval.
🔭 The BASENOR Take
Timeline: FCC filing submitted March 24, 2026. Waiver decision timeline is uncertain — FCC proceedings of this type typically take several months to over a year.
Impact Level: High — if approved, this affects every current Starlink subscriber, not just future customers.
Confidence: The filing is confirmed. FCC approval is not guaranteed, and the waiver requirement adds a meaningful regulatory hurdle.
📰 Deep Dive
This FCC filing is best understood as one piece of a larger, multi-year capacity buildout at SpaceX. The spectrum request addresses the immediate problem — the Ku-band imbalance on the current constellation — while the company simultaneously prepares for a generational leap with its Gen3 satellites. Those satellites, which SpaceX aims to begin launching in the first half of 2026, are engineered to deliver over 200 Gbps of uplink capacity per satellite, representing more than 24 times the uplink throughput of Gen2. Each Starship launch carrying Gen3 hardware is projected to add 60 terabits per second of total network capacity. That's a fundamentally different scale of performance.
The spectrum filing matters even in that context, because Gen3 is still months away from meaningful deployment, and regulatory approvals for new satellites don't translate instantly into better speeds for existing subscribers. Unlocking additional Ku-band spectrum for current dishes is the faster path to near-term upload improvements — if the FCC agrees. The waiver requirement for the 13.75–14.0 GHz band is the key variable. SpaceX will need to demonstrate that operating with smaller-than-required antennas in that band won't cause harmful interference to other users of the spectrum, including government and military systems that share portions of it.
For Tesla owners who use Starlink — whether at a remote property, on a boat, or via the Starlink for RVs service — the practical implication is straightforward: faster uploads would make the service meaningfully more useful for real-time applications. Video calls that currently stutter on the uplink side, remote desktop sessions, and cloud backups would all benefit from a more balanced connection. The question is how long the regulatory process takes, and whether the FCC's current posture toward spectrum waivers works in SpaceX's favor. For more on SpaceX's broader network expansion, see our SpaceX coverage.
