SpaceX Taps Qualcomm to Build Starlink Mobile's 5G Ground Network

SpaceX has chosen Qualcomm Technologies to supply the guts of Starlink Mobile's 5G ground network in the United States. Qualcomm said in a Wednesday release that SpaceX selected its Dragonwing Cellular Infrastructure platform to run the nationwide terrestrial build.

The hardware lineup leans on Qualcomm's Dragonwing QRU100 and QDU100 platforms plus commercial-grade Layer 1 software. Together they blend high-capacity Massive MIMO radio and baseband tech with power-efficient processing, built to keep large-scale cell sites humming.

Starlink Mobile's radio units will run 64 transmit and 64 receive paths, or 64T64R. That architecture is designed to stretch coverage, capacity and spectral efficiency, so the network can push more data traffic without choking.

Starlink SVP Michael Nicolls said the company is assembling a fully integrated national satellite and terrestrial network so subscribers stay connected wherever they roam. Qualcomm's Durga Malladi, EVP and GM of Technology Planning, Edge Solutions and Data Center, said a national-scale network demands top performance and power efficiency at every site, calling the Dragonwing platform the tool that helps Starlink deliver it.

According to GSM Arena, the tie-up is part of a broader push by Starlink to muscle in on America's mobile carriers, putting it in the ring with AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon. SpaceX has been laying groundwork for a while, including earlier talks with Charter about US mobile service.

No dollar figures or launch dates surfaced in the announcement. What's clear: Starlink isn't just aiming at the sky anymore, it wants the towers too.