SpaceX wants to go ahead with FCC to put up to a million data center satellites in orbit

SpaceX founder Elon Musk wasn’t kidding about his plans to become big with orbital data centers: The company is asking the Federal Communications Commission to approve a plan to put up to a million satellites in orbit to process data for artificial intelligence applications.

“Launching a constellation of one million satellites that serve as orbital data centers is the first step to becoming a Kardashev II-level civilization — one that can harness the full power of the sun — while supporting the AI-driven applications of billions of people today and ensuring a human future that includes many interstellar planets,” SpaceX said in an FCC filing Friday.

If possible, the plan could be a challenge to AI titans including Microsoft, Amazon, Google and OpenAI — as well as to Seattle-area space companies like Starcloud, Sophia Space and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin venture, all of which aim to serve the burgeoning data center market.

On the other hand, it would be useful for SpaceX’s manufacturing facility in Redmond, Wash., which produces satellites for SpaceX’s Starlink broadband constellation; and Musk’s xAI company, which has been the focus of merger talks as SpaceX looks for an initial public offering. The Wall Street Journal cited anonymous sources as saying Musk decided to take SpaceX public in part to raise money to build orbital data centers and help xAI.

AI companies have been exploring the idea of ​​using solar-powered data center satellites to overcome the limiting factors of ground-based facilities, such as the rapidly growing demands for electricity and the availability of water for cooling systems.

SpaceX’s application plays up the advantages of off-Earth data processing: “By directly using solar energy nearby with minimal operating or maintenance costs, these satellites will achieve conversion costs and energy efficiency while significantly reducing the environmental impact associated with terrestrial data centers,” it said.

Musk made the task sound easy when he discussed the prospects for orbital data centers on his X social media platform last October: “Simply raising Starlink V3 satellites, with high-speed laser links, will work,” he wrote. “SpaceX is going to do this.”

But SpaceX’s plan is a relatively complex one: Thousands of satellites will be arranged in shells orbiting from 500 to 2,000 kilometers (310 to 1,242 miles) above Earth, each shell up to 50 kilometers (31 miles) high. Each satellite will be fitted with radiator panels to remove heat from space.

SpaceX says it can manage the safe disposal of satellites when they reach the end of their operational lives. The company insists that its control systems will be able to avoid collisions between satellites, and that most data transmissions will be illuminated by a laser beam – which it says will reduce the risk of interference to other companies. However, satellites will also use Ka-band radio broadcasts as a backup.

The new satellite-to-satellite laser links “can connect between or between those satellites and satellites in SpaceX’s first- and second-generation Starlink systems,” SpaceX said.

To speed development of the constellation, SpaceX is asking the FCC to issue a waiver that would free the project from several regulatory hurdles, including a regulatory round that would give other satellite operators a chance to scrutinize the program.

The application does not detail what SpaceX can do to reduce the impact on astronomy or night sky viewing – an issue that has caused controversy in the context of Starlink. Last September, a study led by Dutch astronomers found that Starlink interference was blinding the research community.

As you’d expect, SpaceX paints a bright picture: “SpaceX will continue its long history of successful collaboration and innovation with the science and astronomy community to maintain its critical missions, including developing industry-leading light reduction,” the request says. “Additionally, SpaceX will explore ways for the scientific community to use the powerful AI tools enabled by this spacecraft to accelerate their research and improve space exploration.”

In a post to X, Musk asserted that even a million satellites would not have much impact. “The satellites will be so far apart that it will be difficult to see from one to the other,” he wrote. “Space is so vast that we cannot fathom it.”