Prime Highlights:
- SpaceX aims to build a network of satellites in space to serve as data centers, addressing the world’s growing need for data.
- The project could revolutionize computing by providing a cost-effective and environmentally friendly alternative to land-based data centers.
Key Facts:
- The satellites would run on solar power and use natural space cooling, reducing the need for water and batteries.
- Up to 1 million satellites could be launched using SpaceX’s reusable Starship rockets, orbiting between 500 km and 2,000 km for near-constant sunlight.
Background:
SpaceX plans to launch up to 1 million satellites as space-based data centers.
The satellites would use solar power instead of traditional cooling systems that need a lot of water. In space, they can cool naturally, which also means they need fewer batteries.
They will connect with each other using laser links for fast communication. The satellites would orbit between 500 km and 2,000 km to get almost constant sunlight. The project is meant to be a cheaper and more environmentally friendly option than regular data centers.
Elon Musk described the plan as a step toward making space-based computing mainstream. “The lowest-cost place to put large-scale computing will be space,” Musk said, noting the project could become operational within the next two to three years.
The FCC filing comes amid SpaceX’s exploration of a potential IPO later this year, as well as possible mergers with Musk’s AI venture xAI or even Tesla. These plans could bring SpaceX’s resources together and speed up the development of advanced computing in space, combining satellite production and rocket technology under one strategy.
Experts say that if the project works, SpaceX’s space data centers could change how computing is done, help the environment, and create new ways to handle data worldwide.