SpaceX has begun putting equipment in place at an advanced chip packaging plant in Bastrop, Texas, as it seeks to start production there before year-end, two sources familiar with the situation said. One of those sources noted that the schedule has slipped somewhat, but the company remains focused on a production start prior to the end of the calendar year.
The Bastrop site will be tasked with packaging radio frequency - RF - chips that are used in products tied to SpaceX's Starlink satellite broadband system. The people who spoke on the matter declined to be named, saying the details are not public.
Currently, those RF chips are packaged by outside vendors. According to one source and a third person familiar with the work, SpaceX intends to transfer at least part of that packaging process inside its own operations once the Bastrop plant is fully operational.
SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
State-level planning for the Bastrop facility has been outlined publicly. In 2025, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said the site would expand by about 1 million square feet over the following three years to produce Starlink kits and related components, including advanced packaged silicon products. Abbott said the expansion is expected to cost more than $280 million.
Separately, company leadership has been broadening SpaceX's semiconductor footprint. Elon Musk has been building up the company's chip capabilities and unveiled a plan last month to construct advanced chip factories at a large facility in Austin, Texas.
The Bastrop installation marks a step toward internalizing an element of the Starlink supply chain that has been handled externally. How quickly the company moves through equipment setup and testing will determine whether the production target for year-end is met.
For now, the timeline includes known uncertainty due to previously noted delays and the transition from external packaging providers to at least partial in-house processing. Officials in Texas have communicated expectations for significant physical expansion and investment tied to Starlink hardware production, while SpaceX pursues parallel chip manufacturing plans in Austin.