Federal Communications Commission DA 26-747 DA 26-747 Released: July 17, 2026 TRISTAR LICENSE GROUP, LLC AND STARLINK SPECTRUM HOLDINGS, LLC SEEK FCC CONSENT TO THE PROPOSED TRANSFER OF CONTROL OF AWS-3 SPECTRUM LICENSES FROM TRISTAR TO STARLINK WT Docket No. 26-187 Petitions to Deny Due: August 17, 2026 Oppositions Due: August 31, 2026 Replies Due: September 10, 2026 By this Public Notice, the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB) announces that the application to transfer control of three AWS-3 licenses held by licensee TLG Unpaired Holdings, LLC (TLG), a wholly owned subsidiary of Tristar License Group, LLC (Tristar), from Tristar to Starlink Spectrum Holdings, LLC (Starlink), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) (collectively, the Applicants), has been found, upon initial review, to be acceptable for filing. ULS File No. 0012060998 (filed June 11, 2026, amended July 13, 2026). The Commission reserves the right to return the application, if upon further examination, it is determined to be defective and not in conformance with the Commission’s rules or policies. On June 11, 2026, Applicants filed the application pursuant to section 310(d) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. § 310(d). seeking the Commission’s consent to transfer control of three unpaired AWS-3 licenses from Tristar to Starlink. ULS File No. 0012060998, Description of Transaction, Public Interest Statement, and Waiver Requests (June 11, 2026). On July 13, 2026, Applicants amended the application to clarify details of the proposed transaction. ULS File No. 0012060998, Description of Transaction, Public Interest Statement, and Requests for Renewal, Extension, and Waiver (July 13, 2026) (Amended Public Interest Statement). Under the terms of a membership interest purchase agreement between the Applicants, Starlink will acquire all of the outstanding membership interests in TLG, which is the licensee of unpaired AWS-3 licenses (1695-1710 MHz) in three Economic Areas (BEAs), which encompass 62 counties (in all or parts of 28 Cellular Market Areas (CMAs)) across eight states and cover approximately 4% of the U.S. population. See Amended Public Interest Statement at 1 & Schedule A (FCC Licenses); Exh. 2 (Spectrum Aggregation). Following the transaction, TLG will become a direct wholly owned subsidiary of Starlink and an indirect subsidiary of SpaceX. Amended Public Interest Statement at 1. Post-transaction, according to the Applicants, SpaceX would be attributed with 75 megahertz of spectrum in each relevant area. Amended Public Interest Statement at 1 & Exh. 2 (Spectrum Aggregation). As part of the instant transaction, the Applicants request pre- and post-consummation relief in the form of renewal of the licenses as well as waivers and/or extensions of the terrestrial buildout obligations and service obligations under sections 27.14(s), 1.946(c), (e), and 1.955(a)(2); portions of the renewal standard under section 1.949(d)-(f), and the permanent discontinuance rule under section 1.953(a)-(b) of the Commission’s rules. Amended Public Interest Statement at 1, 6-11. Tristar also filed requests for renewal and waiver and separate requests for extensions of time and waiver, for each of the three licenses (call signs WQXW410, WQXW411, and WQXW417) that are subject to the proposed transfer of control. See ULS File Nos. 0012077085, 0012077080, and 0012077004 (renewal/waiver filings) and ULS File Nos. 0012076978, 0012076979, and 0012076980 (extension/waiver filings) (each filed June 11, 2026 and amended July 13, 2026). These requests cross reference to the waiver and extension requests filed in this transaction. For the avoidance of doubt, any comments with respect to these waiver and extension requests should be filed in this docket under the pleading cycle established in this Public Notice. The Applicants state that, as in the recent SpaceX-EchoStar transaction, approving the transaction, extension requests, and associated waivers will enable SpaceX to expand the footprint of unpaired AWS-3 licenses available to SpaceX for use with its planned D2D network. Amended Public Interest Statement at 4-11; see Applications of Spectrum Business Trust 2025-1, Space Exploration Technologies Corp., and EchoStar Corporation for Consent to Assign Spectrum and Earth Station Licenses, GN Docket No. 25-302, Memorandum Opinion and Order, DA 26-471 (WTB May 12, 2026) (SpaceX-EchoStar Order). The Applicants note that SpaceX’s intended non-terrestrial use of the unpaired AWS-3 spectrum covered by the Licenses would be subject to the Commission’s disposition of SpaceX’s pending D2D application requesting Commission authorization to use unpaired AWS-3 spectrum in its next-generation, purpose built D2D satellite constellation. Amended Public Interest Statement at 11 & n.47 (citing Application of Space Exploration Holdings, LLC for Authority to Launch and Operate the SpaceX NGSO MSS System, ICFS File Nos. SAT-LOA-20250916-00282 & SAT-AMD-20251125-00339 (amended Nov. 25, 2025)). The Applicants propose that the Commission impose similar buildout conditions on the unpaired AWS-3 licenses here as it applied in the SpaceX-EchoStar transaction. Amended Public Interest Statement at 11 (proposing that “since the instant application involves only unpaired AWS-3 licenses (i.e., uplink-only spectrum), only the conditions concerning uplink performance metrics need to be adopted here (i.e., the throughput and spectral efficiency metrics applicable to user uplinks)”). Ex Parte Rules. Pursuant to section 1.1200(a) of the Commission’s rules, 47 CFR § 1.1200(a). the Commission may adopt modified or more stringent ex parte procedures in particular proceedings if the public interest so requires. We announce that this proceeding will be governed by permit-but-disclose ex parte procedures that are applicable to non-restricted proceedings under section 1.1206 of the Commission’s rules. 47 CFR § 1.1206. This proceeding shall be treated as a “permit-but-disclose” proceeding in accordance with the Commission’s ex parte rules. 47 CFR §§ 1.1200 et seq. Entities or persons making ex parte presentations must file a copy of any written presentation or a memorandum summarizing any oral presentation within two business days after the presentation (unless a different deadline applicable to the Sunshine period applies). Entities or persons making oral ex parte presentations are reminded that memoranda summarizing the presentation must: (1) list all persons attending or otherwise participating in the meeting at which the ex parte presentation was made; and (2) summarize all data presented and arguments made during the presentation. If the presentation consisted in whole or in part of the presentation of data or arguments already reflected in the presenter’s written comments, memoranda or other filings in the proceeding, the presenter may provide citations to such data or arguments in his or her prior comments, memoranda, or other filings (specifying the relevant page and/or paragraph numbers where such data or arguments can be found) in lieu of summarizing them in the memorandum. Documents shown or given to Commission staff during ex parte meetings are deemed to be written ex parte presentations and must be filed consistent with rule 1.1206(b). In proceedings governed by rule 1.49(f) or for which the Commission has made available a method of electronic filing, written ex parte presentations and memoranda summarizing oral ex parte presentations, and all attachments thereto, must be filed through the electronic comment filing system available for that proceeding, and must be filed in their native format (e.g., .doc, .xml, .ppt, searchable .pdf). 47 CFR § 1.1206(b). Participants in this proceeding should familiarize themselves with the Commission’s ex parte rules. Comment Period and Filings Requirements. Interested parties may file pleadings on or before the dates indicated on the first page of this document. All filings may be filed using the Commission’s Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS). Filings should refer to Docket Number 26-187 when filing in response to this Public Notice. § Electronic Filers: Comments may be filed electronically using the Internet by accessing the ECFS: https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/. § Paper Filers: Parties who choose to file by paper must file an original and one copy of each filing. o Filings can be sent by hand or messenger delivery, by commercial courier, or by the U.S. Postal Service. All filings must be addressed to the Secretary, Federal Communications Commission. o Hand-delivered or messenger-delivered paper filings for the Commission’s Secretary are accepted between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. by the FCC’s mailing contractor at 9050 Junction Drive, Annapolis Junction, MD 20701. All hand deliveries must be held together with rubber bands or fasteners. Any envelopes and boxes must be disposed of before entering the building. o Commercial courier deliveries (any deliveries not by the U.S. Postal Service) must be sent to 9050 Junction Drive, Annapolis Junction, MD 20701. o Filings sent by U.S. Postal Service First-Class Mail, Priority Mail, and Priority Mail Express must be sent to 45 L Street NE, Washington, DC 20554. One copy of each pleading, ex parte submission, or other filing must be delivered electronically, by email, or if delivered as paper copy, by commercial overnight courier, or by first-class or overnight U.S. Postal Service mail (according to the procedures set forth above for paper filings), to: (1) Susannah Larson, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, at susannah.larson@fcc.gov; (2) Judith Dempsey, Economic Analysis Division, Office of Economics and Analytics, at judith.dempsey@fcc.gov; (3) Morasha Younger, Competition & Infrastructure Policy Division, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, at morasha.younger@fcc.gov; and (4) Nadja Sodos-Wallace, Broadband Division, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, at nadja.sodoswallace@fcc.gov. Any submission emailed to these individuals should include in the subject line of the email: (1) WT Docket No. 26-187; (2) the name of the submitting party; and (3) a brief description or title identifying the type of document being submitted (e.g., WT Docket Number 26-187, Widget Corp., Notice of Ex Parte Communications). People with Disabilities. To request materials in accessible formats for people with disabilities (braille, large print, electronic files, audio format), send an e-mail to fcc504@fcc.gov or call the Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau at 202-418-0530 (voice).