SpaceX plans to build a nationwide terrestrial 5G network in the U.S. for its Starlink Mobile service, deploying tens of thousands of base stations from 2027 through a new collaboration with Qualcomm.
The Elon-Musk led space transportation company has picked Qualcomm’s Dragonwing cellular infrastructure platforms to support the network.. The technology will combine high-capacity radio and baseband processing with power-efficient computing to support large-scale cellular deployments.
Under the multi-year agreement, Qualcomm will supply its Dragonwing QRU100 and QDU100 platforms, along with commercial-grade Layer 1 software for SpaceX’s planned nationwide terrestrial wireless network. The collaboration will support SpaceX’s development of an end-to-end base station architecture for its terrestrial network.
The move expands SpaceX’s connectivity strategy beyond its satellite constellation. Starlink Mobile plans to combine terrestrial cellular infrastructure with satellite connectivity to provide a more integrated network for users across the US.
A key component of the planned network is Massive Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) technology, which uses multiple transmitters and receivers to improve wireless communication.
Starlink Mobile will deploy radio units with 64 transmit and 64 receive paths, known as 64T64R. The configuration is designed to improve network coverage, increase capacity and make more efficient use of available radio spectrum.
Massive MIMO uses multiple antenna elements to direct radio signals towards users, rather than broadcasting them uniformly in every direction. This technique, known as beamforming, can help networks serve more users and handle greater data traffic within a given area.
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