Elon Musk‘s SpaceX, owner of the Starlink satellite network, announced a deal to acquire wireless spectrum from Charlie Ergen’s EchoStar. The total cost of the move is about $17 billion in cash and stock.

According to the announcement cited by Bloomberg, SpaceX is acquiring the AWS-4 and H-block spectrum licenses. The price of the transaction is up to $8.5 billion in cash and an equivalent amount in SpaceX stock.

The news “rocketed” EchoStar’s stock up to 64% before the start of trading today. The company plans to use the proceeds to pay down debt and fund its operations and growth. At the same time, SpaceX has agreed to cover approximately $2 billion in interest on EchoStar’s debt through November 2027.

The move gives SpaceX greater autonomy in direct-to-device services without necessarily having to partner with terrestrial providers. It currently works with T-Mobile, but the new spectrum allows it to develop services independently as well.

The transaction, combined with EchoStar’s recent $23 billion spectrum sale to AT&T, is expected to resolve pending issues with the Federal Communications Commission. Since May, the FCC had been investigating whether EchoStar was complying with its commitments to use the spectrum. The specific 2 GHz band (AWS-4) is critical for data transmission both in mobile networks and satellite infrastructure.

SpaceX had alleged that EchoStar was not utilizing the frequencies, requesting FCC approval to share the spectrum. At the same time, EchoStar was facing financial pressure, having missed bond payments and even considered the possibility of bankruptcy.

With the acquisition, SpaceX dramatically strengthens its position in the global satellite communications market. Starlink, which launched in 2019, already counts 5 million customers in more than 100 countries. It also ecently secured regulatory approval to operate in India.