SpaceX filed a request with the FCC on Friday seeking approval to put 1 million data center satellites into orbit. While the FCC is unlikely to approve such a broad network, SpaceX’s strategy has been to request approval for an unrealistically large number of satellites as a starting point for negotiations.
The filing proposes setting up a network of solar-powered data centers in low Earth orbit that communicate with each other via lasers. Fielding speaks of the planetarium in ambitious sci-fi terms, calling it “the first step toward becoming a Kardashev second-tier civilization – one that can harness the full power of the Sun.”
Even if a small fraction of those 1 million satellites are put into orbit, it would mark a significant increase in the number of man-made objects in space. The European Space Agency estimates that there are currently about 15,000 satellites in Earth orbit, and most of them are Starlink. (More than 9,600 of them, according to jonathan’s space report.)
When experts are already concerned about the abundance of space junk and the possibility of orbital collisions, such an explosion of objects in orbit would seem inappropriate. But SpaceX argues that orbital data centers will be a cheaper and more environmentally friendly alternative to the land-based centers that are the backbone of the growing AI industry. Instead of draining communities, polluting groundwater and increasing electricity bills, orbital data centers would be able to radiate heat into the vacuum of space and rely almost exclusively on real-time solar power and limited batteries.
The backlash against data centers is growing, and communities are winning their battles to stop their construction. So it’s no surprise that the biggest names in AI are turning their attention to one of the few places where there isn’t a community to bother with.
Correction 31 January: An earlier version of this article stated that there were more than 11,000 Starlink satellites in orbit. That number was the total launched, including decommissioned satellites. This has been corrected to reflect how many Starlink satellites are currently active in orbit.
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