Elon Musk’s SpaceX has applied to put a million more satellites into orbit. These “orbital data centers” are intended to meet the growing need for infrastructure to meet global artificial intelligence needs.
As reported BBCIn a filing with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), SpaceX claims that data center “ground capacity” is rapidly being depleted, requiring some expansion into space.
There is no timetable for these launches – if they are approved – but they would represent a gigantic increase in the number of SpaceX satellites orbiting Earth. In the coming years, the number of SpaceX satellites will reach 15,000.
This constellation of flying data centers will be solar-powered, and SpaceX says the facility will not require large operation and maintenance costs, potentially making it more efficient than current options for powering AI.
“Transformative effectiveness”
“These satellites will achieve transformative cost and energy efficiencies while significantly reducing the environmental impacts associated with ground-based data centers,” SpaceX’s FCC filing says. to Reuters.
As the Reuters report highlights, SpaceX may not deploy the million satellites if it gets the green light. Earth orbit is already a very active place and there is still much work to be done to ensure its safety and viability.
This is by no means a new idea: many technology companies have already proposed the idea of installing satellite data centers in space, and Google and Amazon have explored the possibility of such infrastructure, without reaching SpaceX yet.
Another of Elon Musk’s companies, xAI, has also discussed the possibility of moving AI data centers beyond our planet’s atmosphere. The race to see which companies will be the first to implement this goal has already begun.
