Your Tesla, your phone.... and just about everything connected to the internet will be powered by Starlink!
December 10, 2025
By Karan Singh
Not a Tesla App
Tesla has spent the last decade systematically eliminating suppliers wherever it can. From bringing seat manufacturing in-house to designing its own silicon, the company’s philosophy is clear: if it’s critical to the product, own the supply chain.
Now, with SpaceX
filing trademarks for Starlink Mobile and “Powered by Starlink,” it appears that one of the final external tethers - cellular connectivity - could be next on the chopping block.
While the filings are officially related to SpaceX’s telecommunications ambitions, the implications for Tesla’s fleet are substantial. Currently, Tesla relies on third-party carriers, such as AT&T in the United States, to power its
Premium Connectivity features. These trademark filings suggest a future where that reliance ends, replacing leased bandwidth with a vertically integrated, satellite-backed network.
The Clues
According to the filings, SpaceX has trademarked both Starlink Mobile and “Powered by Starlink.” While the former suggests a consumer-facing cellular plan, the latter is the more intriguing part of the puzzle for Tesla owners.
“Powered by Starlink” implies a white-label backend service - infrastructure that supports another brand’s offerings. This is the exact architecture required for Tesla to switch its fleet over to SpaceX. Instead of a Tesla connecting to an AT&T cell tower, it would connect to a Tesla network, which is, quite literally, powered by Starlink.
This wouldn’t be the first integration between the companies for connectivity, either. Many of Tesla’s more remote Superchargers offer Wi-Fi, which your vehicle automatically connects to. The internet access for these sites is often provided by Starlink dishes rather than cellular or landline networks - this just moves the goal from a static site to a moving vehicle.
Many Tesla customers are already used to having Starlink in their vehicles - whether it be mounting a
full-size Dishy or even a Mini to the roof with suction cups to their glass roof. Unlike those bulky and ad-hoc setups, this would require no additional hardware - using the existing vehicle modem.
Vertically Integrating
For Tesla, the logic is financial and operational. Paying legacy carriers for data access for millions of vehicles is a massive, recurring operational expense. By migrating the fleet to a sister company, Elon Musk could keep that revenue within his corporate ecosystem.
It also resolves the dead zone dilemma. When
T-Mobile and SpaceX unveiled the emergency texting for dead zones in 2022, Elon also mentioned that Tesla vehicles would eventually use Starlink Direct-to-Cell capabilities. That means that where current LTE modems are restricted by range or other factors, Starlink Mobile could seamlessly take over or provide service without interruptions.
That means navigation, emergency services, and vehicle telemetry all remain online even in the most remote corners of the map - a non-negotiable requirement for a country-spanning Robotaxi Network.
Not a Competitor - Yet
Despite the filings, Elon tempered expectations, stating that SpaceX doesn’t intend to compete with existing carriers and put them out of business.
The nuance, though, is critical. Direct-to-Cell technology currently supports text and low-bandwidth data, which is perfect for navigation and telemetry, but insufficient for streaming Sentry Mode or Netflix.
The immediate future likely involves a hybrid model, with Starlink Mobile taking over in places of patchy or spotty connection, while terrestrial carriers continue to handle the heavy bandwidth lifting of streaming music and video. But as Starlink’s density and throughput increase, the day may come when everything is simply provided by Starlink.
