SpaceX rises on reported Boost Mobile talks; AST SpaceMobile and Rocket Lab fall

SpaceX rises on reported talks with EchoStar

24/7 Wall St. reports that SpaceX stock rose 4% in early trading to $140.02 after reports that the company is in talks to buy Boost Mobile from EchoStar or gain access to its wireless network. The article says the reporting, first published by The Washington Post, helped move satellite and telecom shares on November 2. It adds that SpaceX is using the effort to build out Starlink Mobile.

The piece says SpaceX stock was still down 7% over the past month despite the rebound. It also says neither company has confirmed a deal, and the financial terms and structure have not been disclosed.

Why Boost Mobile matters for SpaceX

According to 24/7 Wall St., Boost Mobile already has network agreements with two national carriers, including T-Mobile. The article says that combining those terrestrial arrangements with SpaceX’s satellite constellation could create a hybrid network that competes more directly with the largest U.S. wireless carriers.

The report also says these discussions follow SpaceX’s October agreement to buy nationwide low-band spectrum licenses. That transaction still needs approval from the Federal Communications Commission, and the article says it is expected to close in the first half of 2027.

SpaceX chief operating officer Gwynne Shotwell discussed the company’s wireless ambitions on its August 4 earnings call, according to the article. She said she expects Starlink Mobile to “acquire quite a few” customers from T-Mobile and other national rivals.

Starlink scale and rival moves

24/7 Wall St. says SpaceX has an existing customer base that gives it a head start, citing the company’s report of more than 13.6 million Starlink consumer subscribers worldwide. The article also cites New Street Research, which estimates Starlink has about 4 million U.S. broadband customers, up from a May estimate of 2.7 million.

The report says AST SpaceMobile stock fell 4% to $39.33. It says the decline may reflect concern that a SpaceX mobile network with its own U.S. terrestrial access would be a stronger competitor to AST SpaceMobile’s direct-to-device service. The article adds that AST SpaceMobile is down 33% over the past month.

EchoStar stock rose 1% to $98.08, building on a 10% gain over the past month, according to the report. EchoStar chairman and CEO Charles Ergen said on the company’s August 3 earnings call that EchoStar has “a fair amount of flexibility contractually regarding M&A or partnering with people,” the article says.

T-Mobile, Rocket Lab and the open questions

24/7 Wall St. says T-Mobile chief executive Srini Gopalan pushed back on the idea of SpaceX as a mobile virtual network operator on T-Mobile’s October 28 earnings call. The article quotes him as saying, “we don’t really see the room for an MVNO for satellite or SpaceX in that context.” It says he was more open to a resale arrangement, which he described as similar to T-Satellite.

The report says T-Satellite runs on more than 650 Starlink satellites and costs $10 a month as an add-on, according to TheStreet. It says a Boost Mobile acquisition could give SpaceX a way around T-Mobile’s stance by bringing terrestrial access in-house and letting Starlink Mobile sell directly to consumers.

The article also says SpaceX differs from rivals because it combines launch, satellite broadband and AI compute in one vertically integrated company. It describes AST SpaceMobile as a pure-play direct-to-smartphone service company that depends on carrier partnerships, and EchoStar as a spectrum holder and Boost Mobile’s parent. Rocket Lab, meanwhile, is building a launch and space systems business with its own satellite-services push; the article says RKLB stock fell 1% to $54.05.

24/7 Wall St. says the main unanswered question is whether the EchoStar talks will produce a signed Boost Mobile deal with disclosed terms. It says supporters point to Starlink growth and a larger spectrum position, while skeptics point to the unconfirmed deal, the still-pending spectrum approval and the capital spending needed for carrier expansion.