Al Root

Want to access the internet on Mount Everest with your iPhone? Now, there is an app for that.

Elon Musk's rocket company, SpaceX, might have made the biggest splash at Super Bowl 59, surprising everyone with a T-Mobile US partnership.

The wireless provider is using SpaceX's space-based internet product Starlink to solve "wireless' biggest pain point -- mobile dead zones." Starlink will provide connectivity when no cellular network is available.

"If you can see the sky, you're connected," reads part of the news release.

Wireless users, including those on AT&T and Verizon Communications, can sign up for the beta test here.

Early service will include texting and pictures. Data and voice calls are coming later, according to T-Mobile.

"T-Mobile Starlink is the first and only space-based mobile network in the U.S. that automatically connects to your phone," said T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert in a press release. "It's a massive technical achievement and an absolute game changer for ALL wireless users."

T-Mobile stock was up 3.6% at $254.97 in premarket trading, while S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were both up about 0.5%.

SpaceX shares don't trade publicly, but it's the most valuable aerospace company on the planet, worth about $350 billion based on private-market transactions.

Being private makes current pricing data hard to come by, but at last count, Starlink has some five million subscribers and is profitable. Consumers and businesses can buy Starlink terminals for their homes or offices, getting high-speed internet access from space. The satellite-to-cell phone connection is a new product for SpaceX.

The partnership with T-Mobile might give investors an indirect way to benefit from the development of SpaceX's space technology. T-Mobile, however, will remain mainly a wireless stock.

A direct SpaceX investment through an initial public offering doesn't look likely soon. David Baron, co-manager of the Baron Focused Growth Fund, said in November that a SpaceX IPO was likely three or four years away. SpaceX just doesn't need the cash.

Baron Capital was an early private investor in SpaceX.

T-Mobile stock is getting a SpaceX bump. Tesla isn't. Shares were down 0.7% in early trading at $359.28.

There is no significant financial connection between SpaceX and Tesla, but Elon Musk, of course, runs both companies.

Occasionally, there is a more explicit rocket/car crossover. Sometimes, astronauts are transported to SpaceX rockets in Teslas on their way to the International Space Station. And a 2022 Super Bowl ad from Polestar Automotive took a shot at SpaceX in an EV ad, noting there was "no conquering Mars, no blah blah blah" with Polestar's cars.

SpaceX's ultimate goal is to make Mars habitable for humans.

For now, the big winners from the Super Bowl are T-Mobile, SpaceX, and, of course, the Philadelphia Eagles.

Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

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February 10, 2025 09:19 ET (14:19 GMT)

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