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Image: EchoStar
Late last month, shares in EchoStar Corporation entered the stratosphere. The stock jumped as much as 80% in premarket trading on August 26 after it was announced that the company would sell some of its wireless spectrum licenses to AT&T for $23 billion.
Now, EchoStar shares are up again in premarket trading. But this time it’s not thanks to its AT&T deal. It’s because the company has reached a deal with Elon Musk’s SpaceX. Here’s what you need to know about why EchoStar’s shares are soaring again.
Today, EchoStar announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with SpaceX to sell its AWS-4 and H-block spectrum licenses to Elon Musk’s company for approximately $17 billion.
Spectrum licenses are government-granted licenses that give companies the right to operate their services on specific radio waves. If a company owns such licenses, it can often sell those licenses to other companies, as is the case in what EchoStar has previously announced it will do with AT&T.
As with its previous spectrum license deal with AT&T, EchoStar’s spectrum license deal with SpaceX will primarily see the company getting boatloads of cash.
SpaceX is offering EchoStar a total compensation of $17 billion for its spectrum licenses. Of that, $8.5 billion will be in cash, and another $8.5 billion will be in SpaceX shares, which are currently only available privately.
But EchoStar isn’t just getting cash and SpaceX stock. The definitive agreement will also see SpaceX fund around $2 billion in cash interest payments to EchoStar.
The two companies will also enter into a commercial agreement that will allow EchoStar’s Boost Mobile subscribers to access SpaceX’s Starlink Direct to Cell service. EchoStar is the parent company of Boost Mobile, as well as Sling TV and the Dish Network satellite TV service.
As for SpaceX, the company’s president and COO, Gwynne Shotwell, says the deal will allow it to “advance our mission to end mobile dead zones around the world.” The deal will help do this by giving SpaceX’s Starlink Direct to Cell satellites more spectrum to run on.
“In this next chapter, with exclusive spectrum,” Shotwell said, “SpaceX will develop next-generation Starlink Direct to Cell satellites, which will have a step change in performance and enable us to enhance coverage for customers wherever they are in the world.”
The deal also has one other benefit for EchoStar—it’s another step in helping the company resolve concerns by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) over its wireless spectrum licenses.
Notably, SpaceX has long argued that EchoStar’s spectrum was being underutilised. Earlier this year, the FCC opened an investigation into the matter.
“EchoStar anticipates this transaction with SpaceX, along with the previously announced spectrum sale, will resolve the Federal Communications Commission’s inquiries,” EchoStar said in a statement.
Shares in EchoStar are soaring once again in the hours after the deal was announced.
As of the time of this writing, SATS shares are currently up 23% in premarket trading to $82.75. That is an all-time high for the company, which, before today’s surge, was worth about $20 billion.
Before today’s stock price jump, SATS had already had a great 2025, largely thanks to the August AT&T announcement.
As of market close yesterday, SATS shares were up 193% year to date. Over the past 12 months, SATS shares were up 201%.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michael Grothaus is a novelist and author. His latest novel, Beautiful Shining People, has been translated into multiple languages.
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