SpaceX selects Qualcomm platforms for Starlink Mobile ground network

SpaceX has selected Qualcomm's Dragonwing QRU100 and QDU100 platforms for the terrestrial part of its Starlink Mobile network, with a US rollout planned to begin in 2027. Qualcomm says the multi-year agreement covers tens of thousands of sites. ^[1]

The deployment will use Massive MIMO radios with 64 transmit and 64 receive paths, supported by Qualcomm's radio processing and commercial Layer 1 software. QRU100 handles functions within the radio unit, while QDU100 supplies processing for the distributed unit, dividing work between the equipment close to the antennas and the network's baseband functions. ^[1][3]

That split is part of the wider development of disaggregated radio access networks, in which defined interfaces connect functions that can be placed and upgraded separately. The distributed unit handles signal processing with strict timing requirements, with operations such as channel coding and beamforming requiring substantial, predictable computation. Hardware acceleration can perform that work without placing all of it on server CPUs. ^[3]

QRU100's published capabilities include digital beamforming, dynamic spectrum sharing and support for both 64T64R and 32T32R configurations. Its digital predistortion and crest-factor-reduction functions are designed to work with the power amplifiers used in a radio, including GaN and LDMOS devices. Predistortion adjusts the drive signal to compensate for amplifier nonlinearity, helping maintain signal quality as the transmitter is operated efficiently. ^[2] The platform also supports RAN sharing between operators and O-RAN split functions. Those are features of the available Qualcomm technology; the agreement does not establish that every option will be used in Starlink Mobile's network. ^[2]

Starlink's satellite services and the terrestrial rollout form parts of SpaceX's wider connectivity plans, but this supplier selection concerns cellular infrastructure on the ground. It identifies radio and baseband building blocks for 5G sites, rather than a new satellite modem inside a handset. ^[1]

Qualcomm describes improved performance per watt across radio processing and processing in the distributed unit as one objective of the deployment, without publishing an energy comparison for the network. The rollout is planned in multiple waves, with the first US sites due from 2027 under the timetable given in the announcement. ^[1]