Qualcomm to Power SpaceX's Starlink Mobile 5G Network Across the US

SpaceX has picked Qualcomm's Dragonwing Cellular Infrastructure platforms to build the nationwide terrestrial 5G network for Starlink Mobile, its new US mobile service. The deal gives SpaceX the radio hardware it needs to become a real carrier, not just a satellite company.

Back in August, SpaceX made clear it wants to compete with AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon in the US. But a proper carrier needs more than satellites, and that is where Qualcomm comes in.

What Qualcomm is supplying

The base stations for the Starlink Mobile network will be built on Qualcomm's Dragonwing QRU100 and QDU100 platforms, along with Qualcomm's commercial-grade Layer 1 software. Starlink Mobile will use Massive MIMO radio units with 64 transmit and 64 receive paths (64T64R), designed to improve coverage, capacity and spectral efficiency.

The QRU100 handles the processing for those radio units, while the QDU100 takes care of latency-sensitive Layer 1 processing. Together, the two platforms are meant to improve performance per watt.

Rollout starts in 2027

SpaceX plans to start the nationwide rollout in 2027, with tens of thousands of sites deployed over the next few years. The network will be multi-band, rolled out in several different waves. SpaceX describes the planned service as unique — the first fully-integrated network combining the terrestrial network with the satellite network, together with an AI-native 6G radio network.

Michael Nicolls, VP of Starlink Engineering at SpaceX, said SpaceX and Qualcomm share a vision for building next-generation connectivity, and that SpaceX selected Qualcomm's scalable, efficient platform.

The background

Last month, SpaceX purchased 800 MHz of spectrum from EchoStar. T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert said Boost Mobile would be the first to offer the new Starlink Mobile service, but it is unclear what T-Mobile's involvement will be.

Sources

• GSMArena — Qualcomm will help SpaceX build Starlink Mobile's nationwide US 5G network