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SpaceX is requesting to launch up to one million satellites to create a network of orbiting data centers around Earth.
Late on Friday, the company filed the request with the Federal Communications Commission, describing the project as a “constellation of satellites with unprecedented computing capacity to power advanced artificial intelligence (‘AI’) models and the applications that rely on them.”
The plan is shocking in its scope, and would dwarf the existing Starlink constellation, which currently spans over 9,600 satellites in Earth’s orbit.
In one 8-page document, SpaceX describes its proposed Orbital Data Center system. "To deliver the compute capacity required for large scale AI inference and data center applications serving billions of users globally, SpaceX aims to deploy a system of up to one million satellites to operate within narrow orbital shells spanning up to 50 km each (leaving sufficient room to deconflict against other systems with comparable ambitions),” the company says.
(Credit: FCC/SpaceX)The same satellites would harness the sun’s energy, orbiting at “between 500 km and 2,000 km altitude and 30 degrees and sun-synchronous orbit inclinations,” the company adds. The orbiting data centers would also use “optical links,” or lasers, to connect with Starlink, using the existing satellite internet system to route traffic to users below.
“Orbital data centers are the most efficient way to meet the accelerating demand for AI computing power,” the filing adds in bold, pointing to the growing energy costs of AI data centers on Earth. The company is also betting it can launch the space-based data centers at a rapid clip using SpaceX’s more powerful Starship vehicle, which is also crucial to upgrading Starlink with next-generation satellites.
(Credit: FCC/SpaceX)The company filed the request as SpaceX is preparing an initial public offering, which will reportedly help fund the orbital data center push. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk previously indicated his Starlink technology has already created the foundation to build out the network of orbiting data centers.
However, the request for one million satellites appears to be unprecedented and will likely face intense scrutiny from the FCC, along with critics and rivals. Earlier this month, the commission cleared a SpaceX request to operate another 7,500 satellites for its second-generation Starlink constellation, including at lower orbits. But the regulator stopped short of granting permission for the full 22,488.
Details about SpaceX’s orbiting data centers, including their mass, were left vague. In the filing, SpaceX merely says that it “plans to design and operate different versions of satellite hardware to optimize operations across orbital shells.”
Satellite industry analyst Tim Farrar told PCMag: "This filing seems quite rushed and to be very early stage." But he said it provides a rationale for a reported merger between SpaceX and xAI, another Musk company that was created to compete with OpenAI.
Farrar added: "SpaceX can't spend the $50B that the IPO is supposed to raise on its existing Starlink and Starship efforts, whereas xAI sorely needs as much money as possible to keep up with rivals."