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SpaceX seeks patent for custom-built Starlink internet satellite antenna design
Update: Readers on Reddit more familiar with patent processes have noted that the USPO filings written about herein were not patent grants but rather patent applications. While a patent grant is not guaranteed and will likely take many additional months to be completed, all other points made in this article still stand.
SpaceX has been granted domestic (U.S.) and international patents for a custom version of an antenna known as a phased array, in this case featuring significant upgrades in pursuit of greater energy efficiency, higher bandwidth, lower weight, and simplified manufacturing, all things that would be a boon for the realization of SpaceX’s global Starlink internet satellite constellation.
With a minimum of ~4400 satellites required for the first wave of global and continuous internet coverage, SpaceX will need to invent unprecedented methods of mass-producing efficient and reliable spacecraft on a scale that has never been attempted in the satellite manufacturing industry.
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- Patent diagrams like this show various subcomponents of a sandwiched phased array antenna, comprised of multiple printed circuit boards. (SpaceX)
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- SpaceX’s first two Starlink prototype satellites are pictured here before their inaugural Feb. 2018 launch, showing off a utilitarian design. (SpaceX)
While highly technical and difficult to parse, the granted patent and the dozen or so figures accompanying it offer at least a theoretical glimpse into the inner workings of SpaceX’s extremely secretive satellite internet constellation project, the hubs of which can be found in Seattle and Redmond, Washington. Currently employing at least 300 people dedicated to Starlink, the teams involved are pushing full speed ahead into a new phase of manufacturing design and development, evidenced in part by hiring patterns and even this patent, which itself places significant focus on manufacturability, a telltale sign that SpaceX is unlikely to let it sit around gathering intellectual property dust.
It’s entirely possible that SpaceX has chosen to file patents through individual employees or shell LLCs, but this phased array antenna patent – filed in February and granted in August 2018 – is by all appearances the third patent ever granted directly to SpaceX, alongside aluminum-honeycomb manufacturing and a critical component of its Merlin rocket engines. Perhaps this serves as some sort of indicator of how important Starlink actually is behind the veil, although it may also simply reflect the intense competition circling the prospects of a low Earth orbit satellite internet constellation.
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- The technical term for this is “science rectangle.” In all seriousness, this is actually an extraordinary glimpse at custom silicon developed in-house at SpaceX, in this case a semiconductor die. (SpaceX)
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- This hypnotic animation shows a phased array antenna in action, with the longer and wider ‘lobes’ indicating beams being intentionally created. (Wikipedia – Maxter315)
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- A diagram in SpaceX’s phased array patent visualizes some of the benefits derived by their specific design, particularly eliminating or reducing the smaller protuberances (known as “side lobes”). (SpaceX)
Other companies like OneWeb and Telesat are also racing to field their own several-hundred or several-thousand satellite constellations, and OneWeb may well be the closest to actually serving customers with operational satellite launches potentially beginning as early as December 2018 to February 2019. Still, SpaceX’s own prospective Starlink constellation is exceptional due to the sheer amount of work that the company is attempting to do in-house, to the extent that senior leaders of the R&D team have recently implied that work not done in-house was generally outsourced only due to “lack of engineering bandwidth”.
Ultimately, this patent and many of the diagrams within suggest that SpaceX may actually be getting relatively close to mass-production of high-performance Starlink satellites. Of particular note, the integrated circuit CAD view offered in Figure 6A hints that an impressive amount of work has been put into designing, building, testing, and refining custom and application-optimized computational hardware, an entirely new and highly complex field for SpaceX to enter into.
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For years, there have been images and videos across social media platforms that have reminded me of when I was a 15-year-old kid teased by “Xbox 720” videos on YouTube. These videos are of the supposed “Tesla Phone” that Elon Musk was secretly developing in between leading Tesla with its electric cars and SpaceX with its reusable rockets.
Would you buy a Tesla phone ? pic.twitter.com/aaTwvvIJit
— Tesla Owners Silicon Valley (@teslaownersSV) October 6, 2023
Although Musk has put those rumors to bed several times, it was never completely out of the realm that he could get involved in cell phones in some capacity. Think outside the box and more macro-level, though. Instead of reinventing the computer, Musk reinvented connectivity by developing Starlink with SpaceX.
It could be something similar, TD Cowen analyst Gregory Williams said in a note last week, where he hinted SpaceX could be gathering some steam to acquire T-Mobile.
Williams said it would be the “clear choice” for SpaceX if it decided to go through with a network acquisition. He also suggested AT&T.
The move would be possible through selling more of its own stock, which would help SpaceX raise the money to purchase T-Mobile, which would cost roughly $300 billion. It could be one of the moves SpaceX makes post-IPO in terms of an acquisition: it already acquired Cursor AI for $60 billion.
Other analysts, like Dan Ives of Wedbush, believe SpaceX and Tesla will eventually merge into one anyway, and that conglomeration could come as soon as this year, some have said.
The implications of SpaceX purchasing T-Mobile are massive. A combined entity would create a truly ubiquitous network: T-Mobile’s terrestrial 5G towers and Starlink’s growing constellation of Direct-to-Cell satellites. This would essentially eliminate dead zones across the U.S. and potentially globally.
SpaceX would instantly become a full-scale facilities-based carrier with satellite differentiation; a huge advantage. This would pressure AT&T and Verizon heavily.
There are also concerns like a potential reduction in long-term competition, and of course, a deal of that size would face intense scrutiny from government agencies.
The strategic fit is compelling due to the existing Starlink–T-Mobile partnership and complementary technologies (space + terrestrial). It could create a dominant integrated communications player. However, the regulatory, financial, and execution hurdles are enormous — this remains highly speculative with no indication SpaceX is actively pursuing it right now.
Tesla revealed a major new Cybercab detail in a guide it released for First Responders, showing new territory in its beliefs and intentions for the ride-hailing-focused vehicle that entered production in April.
The First Responders Guide is released to give fire departments, paramedics, and other emergency personnel the proper guidance on what to do in the event of an accident, entrapment, or other situation that would require immediate attention.
On one of the pages of the First Responders Guide, Tesla revealed a stark detail about the Cybercab, which could help personnel enter the vehicle more easily in case of an emergency.
Tesla Cybercab has one important piece that AI4 cars might need for FSD
It shows Tesla has no intention of releasing any Cybercab units that were initially proposed for ride-hailing services for the general public with any manual controls, meaning a steering wheel or pedals:
“A Cybercab equipped with steering wheel, brake pedal, and an acceleration pedal is typically an engineering or test vehicle, and operates at SAE Level 2 autonomy. Cybercab is not typically equipped with a steering wheel or acceleration and brake pedals.”
New official Cybercab documentation from Tesla:
“A Cybercab equipped with steering wheel, brake pedal, and an acceleration pedal is typically an engineering or test vehicle, and operates at SAE Level 2 autonomy. Cybercab is not typically equipped with a steering wheel or… https://t.co/P6ut1mZyzr pic.twitter.com/yq6skl9s2J
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) June 27, 2026
This is a major development for those who continue to believe Tesla planned to release the Cybercab with any sort of manual controls so that passengers could take over if needed. However, when Tesla started manufacturing production versions of the Cybercab in Giga Texas earlier this year, they were spotted without a steering wheel or pedals.
It essentially confirms the company has no intentions of bringing manual controls to the car’s production versions. Some have argued that the likelihood of Tesla having something
There still are some Cybercab units out there with a steering wheel and pedals, and as Tesla said, these cars are engineering or test vehicles, which have Safety Monitors on board to help the car out of a precarious situation or emergency.
Tesla released the Full Self-Driving v14 ‘Lite’ suite to owners of Hardware 3 or AI3 vehicles today, adding several new features to the vehicles that were once believed to be capable of unsupervised self-driving.
Now, Tesla has released this modified suite to older Tesla vehicles, adding plenty of new features and capabilities.
Here are the full release notes for the suite:
- Distilled the intelligence from HW4 V14 into HW3. This allows HW3 to directly learn how to handle scenarios using HW4 V14 as a guide. This process unlocks the improvements that have been made to HW4 including Reinforcement Learning (RL) and offline models for HW3.
- Improved both proactive and reactive responsiveness across a wide variety of categories including navigation handling, merges and forks, pedestrian interactions, traffic lights, and vehicle cut-in scenarios.
- Improved general comfort in nominal scenarios through fewer false slowdowns, smoother steering and more consistent lane centering.
- Introduced parking, unparking, and reversing capabilities.
- Added Arrival Options for you to select where FSD should park: in a Parking Lot, on the Street, in a Driveway, or at the Curbside.
- Speed Profiles are now available at all times, to further customize driving style preference.
These improvements, according to Tesla’s Head of AI, Ashok Elluswamy, help distill the driving behavior from AI4’s v14 series into both the camera and compute configurations of AI3.
Tesla Full Self-Driving v14 ‘Lite’ for older cars finally gets released
He added:
“It includes destination options and speed profiles on city roads, but more importantly significantly improved safety. We hope you’ll enjoy it, once the build ships wide.”
FSD v14 Lite is now rolling out to AI3 early-access customers. Based on the feedback, will rollout to more customers over the next few weeks.
This build distills the driving behavior from AI4’s v14 series into both the camera and compute config of AI3. It includes destination…
— Ashok Elluswamy (@aelluswamy) June 29, 2026
Tesla will continue to roll out the v14 Lite suite more widely in the coming weeks, the company said.
Tesla Phone? Not quite, but close: analyst
Tesla reveals huge Cybercab detail in new guide for First Responders
