On Friday, when SpaceX filed plans with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for a network of millions of satellite data centers, you might have thought Elon Musk was having a little fun with us. A week later, however, it is clear that he is dead serious.
The most visible step, of course, is the formal merger between SpaceX and xAI that took place on Monday, officially bringing together Musk’s space and AI businesses in a way that makes a lot more sense if any joint infrastructure project is planned.
But even after the merger, we’re starting to see the idea of orbital AI data clusters—essentially networks of computers operating in space—fit into the real plan. On Wednesday, the FCC accepted the filing and set a timetable for seeking public comment. It’s a pro forma move normally, but FCC Chairman Brendan Carr took the unusual step of sharing the
At the same time, Elon Musk began to publicly flesh out the arguments for orbital data centers. In a new episode of Stripe co-founder Patrick Collison’s “Cheeky Pint” podcast, which also featured guest Dwarkesh Patel, Musk laid out the basic case for moving most of our AI computing power into space. Solar panels essentially produce more energy in space, so you can reduce one of the major operating costs of data centers.
“It’s harder to scale on Earth than in space,” Musk said in the podcast. “Any given solar panel will give you about five times more power in space than on the ground, so it’s actually a lot cheaper.”
Close listeners will notice that there is a bit of a logic gap here! It’s true that solar panels produce more energy in space, but since energy isn’t the only cost of running a data center, and solar panels aren’t the only way to power a data center, it doesn’t follow that it’s cheaper to do the whole thing in orbit, as Patel noted in the podcast. Patel also raised concerns about GPU servicing failing during AI model training, but you’ll have to listen to the full episode for that.
Overall, Musk was undeterred, calling 2028 a breakout year for orbital data centers. “You can mark my words, 36 months from now, but probably closer to 30 months, the most economically compelling place to put AI is space,” Musk said.
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He didn’t stop there. “Five years from now, I predict that we will launch and operate more AI in space each year than the cumulative total on Earth,” Musk continued.
For context, as of 2030, global data center capacity will be an estimated 200 GW, which is about a trillion dollars worth of infrastructure when you just put it on the ground.
Of course, SpaceX makes money launching things into orbit, so this is all pretty convenient for Musk — especially now that SpaceX has an AI company attached to it. And with new conglomerate SpaceX-xAI headed for an IPO in just a few months, you can expect to hear a lot more about orbital data centers in the coming months. With tech companies still pouring hundreds of trillions of dollars into data center spending each year, there’s a real chance that not all of that money will stay on the ground.