By Wen-Yee Lee
TAIPEI, April 10 (Reuters) – SpaceX has begun installing equipment at its advanced chip packaging facility in Bastrop, Texas, as the satellite and rocket company aims to begin production there by the end of this year, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
One of the sources said the timeline had seen some delays, but the company was still targeting a start of production before the year-end.
The facility will package radio frequency (RF) chips used in products related to SpaceX’s satellite-based internet system Starlink, the sources said, declining to be named as the information is not public.
The RF chips to be packaged in Bastrop are currently packaged by external providers, but SpaceX plans to bring at least part of the packaging process in-house once the facility is ready, according to one of the sources and a third source.
SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In 2025, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said that over the next three years, SpaceX’s Bastrop facility would expand by 1 million square feet to produce Starlink kits and related components, including advanced packaged silicon products. The expansion is expected to cost more than $280 million, Abbott said.
Elon Musk has been building up the space company’s semiconductor capabilities and unveiled a plan last month to build advanced chip factories at a sprawling facility in Austin, Texas.
(Reporting by Wen-Yee Lee; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)
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