SpaceX Seeks Approval for 1 Million Additional Satellites Amid Orbital AI Data Center Plans

SpaceX stated in a filing that its plans for orbital AI data centers, moon, and Mars infrastructure involve unproven technology and may not be commercially viable. The disclosure comes as SpaceX asks the government for permission to launch up to 1 million more satellites.

The company's owner, who owns SpaceX and is the world's richest man, said last month that space has the advantage that it’s always sunny.

The owner is set to take SpaceX public as early as June at a reported valuation of $2 trillion. He claimed that data centers in space can “enable self-growing bases on the moon, an entire civilization on Mars, and ultimately expansion to the universe.” Data centers in space remain an untested technology.

SpaceX operates most of the roughly 14,000 active satellites orbiting Earth. Starlink, the company's satellite-internet provider, has more than 10 million active customers in at least 150 countries. Starlink subscribers set up a flat antenna that looks like a pizza box to connect their devices to the internet.

The satellites power in-plane Wi-Fi for several airlines, including United Airlines and Qatar Airways. The owner restricted Starlink access for both Ukrainian and Russian forces at various points during the ongoing conflict between the two countries. In other cases, he has made Starlink service free—such as in Venezuela after the U.S. raid and capture of Nicolás Maduro, in January.

The owner provides satellite connectivity directly to people’s smartphones without specialized hardware through partnerships with more than a dozen mobile carriers to serve dead zones. T-Mobile’s Starlink partnership, T-Satellite, allows customers to use satellite internet for messaging, location sharing, and low-speed data for a handful of apps.

The owner said last September, “You should be able to have a Starlink—like you have an AT&T or a T-Mobile or a Verizon or whatever.” Starlink’s next-generation satellites are set to launch later this year and promise to increase mobile speeds by more than 3,000 percent. Amazon bought the satellite company GlobalStar for more than $11 billion last week.

Amazon struck an agreement with Apple to operate satellite internet on iPhones and Apple Watches as part of the GlobalStar deal announcement. The owner purchased Twitter in 2022 and renamed it X.