"Elon Musk and his aerospace company have requested to build a network that's 100 times the number of satellites that are currently in orbit. On Friday, SpaceX filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to launch a million satellites meant to create an "orbital data center." This isn't the first time we're hearing of Musk's plans to build an orbital data center, as it was mentioned by company insiders following the news that the CEO was reportedly preparing to take SpaceX public."
"SpaceX is requesting to 'deploy a system of up to one million satellites to operate within narrow orbital shells spanning up to 50 km each,' as detailed in the filing. According to SpaceX's filing, 'orbital data centers are the most efficient way to meet the accelerating demand for AI computing power' since they use 'solar power with little operating and maintenance costs.'"
SpaceX filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission to deploy up to one million satellites intended to form an orbital data center operating within narrow orbital shells up to 50 km each. The proposed constellation would run on solar power and supply computing capacity for artificial intelligence workloads, with SpaceX describing orbital data centers as efficient and having minimal operating and maintenance costs. SpaceX has already launched thousands of Starlink satellites, hitting an 11,000th launch milestone, and unofficial trackers reported more than 9,600 satellites in orbit as of January 30, 2026. The FCC has previously approved smaller totals and is likely to reduce the requested quantity.
Read at Engadget
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