SpaceX filed FCC application SES-LIC-20260306-00745 for a next-generation quad-band gateway earth station called First of Its Name for the Starlink factory in Bastrop, Texas.
The station will use 40 antennas, each with a 1.99-meter parabolic dish, to harness additional spectrum in the Ka-, V-, E-, and W-bands. This will allow connection to more satellites simultaneously and deliver higher data transmission rates and fiber-like speeds for Starlink.
STARLINK: “First of Its Name”
Yesterday, SpaceX filed FCC application SES-LIC-20260306-00745 for a next-generation quad-band gateway earth station called “First of Its Name” for the Starlink factory in Bastrop, Texas.
The station will use 40 antennas, each with a 1.99-meter… pic.twitter.com/zQDUFgvEtg
— S.E. Robinson, Jr. (@SERobinsonJr) April 24, 2026
The application focuses on technical parameters (frequencies, antennas, power, etc.) rather than stating a total throughput number. However, the engineering context strongly supports multi-Tbps aggregate feeder-link capacity:Next-generation Starlink satellites (especially V3/Gen3) are designed with over 1 Tbps downlink capacity per satellite. A single launch of 60 satellites can add ~60 Tbps of network capacity to the constellation.
Earlier gateways (fewer antennas, narrower bands) handled on the order of tens to low hundreds of Gbps per site. With 40 antennas + vastly more spectrum in higher-frequency bands (which offer wider bandwidth channels), this gateway can simultaneously link to far more satellites and move dramatically more data.
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
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