SpaceX proposes 1 million orbital data centers for AI processing

The proposal, filed with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Friday, January 30, 2026, represents an exponential increase in the scale of satellite operations. SpaceX’s existing Starlink constellation, which provides global internet coverage, consists of approximately 12,000 approved satellites, with around 9,000 currently operational. The new plan, as reported by GeekWire and The Verge, calls for launching up to a million solar-powered satellites that would function specifically as orbital data centers. These facilities would be dedicated to processing the immense computational workloads required by artificial intelligence systems, including those developed by Musk’s company, xAI. This move directly merges SpaceX’s launch capabilities with the rapidly growing demand for AI processing power.\ \ The competitive context for this project is intense. Other tech giants, including Amazon, Microsoft, and Google, have all invested heavily in terrestrial data centers for AI, but orbital ambitions are a newer frontier. As noted on Fosstodon, the SpaceX plan appears to \"trump other companies' aspirations to create orbital datacenter constellations.\" The proposal frames the endeavor as a critical step for technological advancement on a civilizational scale. In its FCC application, SpaceX stated the project is a \"first step towards becoming a Kardashev Type II-level civilization,\" a reference to a theoretical civilization capable of harnessing the total energy output of its star, WCCFtech reported.\ \ Technical and logistical challenges are immense. Each satellite would need to be a self-contained, solar-powered data center capable of operating in the harsh environment of space and managing its own heat dissipation without traditional cooling systems. The plan would also require a massive scaling up of SpaceX’s launch manifest, likely relying heavily on its fully reusable Starship rocket, which is still in its testing phase. The company has not publicly detailed a specific timeline for deployment or the total estimated cost of constructing and launching such a massive number of spacecraft.\ \ The proposal has immediately ignited serious concerns within the scientific and regulatory communities. Critics, including voices on Fosstodon, have raised alarms about the potential for dramatically exacerbating orbital debris and the risk of triggering the Kessler Syndrome—a scenario where the density of objects in low Earth orbit is so high that collisions could cause a cascading chain reaction, rendering certain orbital regions unusable. The plan is certain to face intense scrutiny from the FCC, international regulators, and astronomers concerned about the impact of so many new objects on observations of the night sky.\ \ Market and competitive reactions were swift. The announcement sent ripples through the technology and aerospace sectors, with analysts questioning the feasibility and necessary capital expenditure. The move solidifies SpaceX’s and xAI’s positions at the intersection of space infrastructure and advanced computing, potentially creating a vertically integrated operation from rocket launch to AI inference that no other company can currently match. If approved, the project would fundamentally reshape the infrastructure of the internet and cloud computing, moving a substantial portion of the world’s data processing into space."