Qualcomm, the chipmaker that still supplies modems for many phones, has signed on to build the ground network behind SpaceX’s Starlink Mobile carrier in the United States.
Under a multiyear agreement, Qualcomm will provide chips and software for tens of thousands of Starlink Mobile cell sites, with a nationwide 5G rollout set to begin in 2027, reports Tesla North.
Specifically, SpaceX is getting Qualcomm’s Dragonwing QRU100 and QDU100 platforms along with commercial-grade Layer 1 software for its base stations. Those sites will run Massive MIMO radios with 64 transmit and 64 receive paths, a design Qualcomm says improves coverage, capacity and spectral efficiency.
What makes this notable is that SpaceX is no longer content to just beam signals from orbit. Starlink Mobile is meant to blend satellites with its own towers on the ground, so phones can hop between the two instead of dropping calls.
Starlink senior vice president Michael Nicolls said people shouldn’t still be dealing with dropped calls “whether you’re at home or on-the-go,” adding that Qualcomm will help SpaceX speed up work on its end-to-end base station design. Neither company shared financial terms.
For Qualcomm, the deal opens another revenue stream as Apple moves its iPhone lineup to in-house cellular chips like the C2 modem. Network gear for a new carrier is a very different business from phone modems, but it keeps Qualcomm’s 5G work in front of one of the most aggressive players in wireless.
SpaceX has been building toward this for over a year. It agreed in September 2025 to buy EchoStar’s AWS-4 and H-block spectrum for about US$17 billion, later won FCC approval for more AWS-3 spectrum, and is reportedly in talks over EchoStar’s Boost Mobile brand.
Here in Canada, Starlink’s phone service currently reaches users through carrier partners rather than its own network. Rogers Satellite uses Starlink’s direct-to-cell satellites for texting and select apps on compatible iPhone and Android devices, and it recently added roaming in Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
Ottawa’s interest in satellite connectivity has also been growing, with SpaceX’s role here drawing scrutiny as other spectrum holders position themselves for Canadian satellite-to-phone service. SpaceX hasn’t announced any plan to bring Starlink Mobile’s ground network north of the border.
Would you consider a Starlink phone plan if SpaceX ever launched its own network in Canada (well, if regulators would allow it)?
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