Beyond Starlink, why did SpaceX’s merger with xAI just launched the first space-based AI data centers?
25 years ago, using the power of the skies was just a fantasy imagined by futurists like Arthur C. Clarke and Isaac Asimov. This week, Elon Musk’s merger of xAI and SpaceX brings that science fiction dream closer to reality.
For almost 20 years, NASA engineers and technologists have discussed moving energy-hungry computing to Earth. Lately, big tech companies like Alphabet and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin have also shown interest. The physics work, and there is plenty of solar energy, but the challenges have always appeared overwhelming.
Musk is known for taking risks on ideas that seem unlikely and making them work. Now, he may be making space-based data centers possible. He has the world’s busiest satellite launch fleet, an AI startup, and a drive to build infrastructure from Earth into space.
In the long term, space-based AI is obviously the only way to scale, Musk said on Monday. Harnessing even a millionth of our sun’s energy would require over a million times more energy than our civilization currently uses. The only logical solution, therefore, is to transport these resource-intensive efforts to a location with vast power and space.
The merger has investors watching to see how Musk could solve major challenges by connecting rockets, satellites, and AI systems to move AI infrastructure beyond Earth. This comes as SpaceX gets ready for a possible $1.5 trillion IPO.
SpaceX has asked for approval to launch up to 1 million solar-powered satellites designed to operate as data centers in orbit, which is far more than anything that exists or has been proposed before. In a filing with the Federal Communications Commission, SpaceX described a solar-powered link-driven Orbital Data Center system but did not say how many Starship launches would be needed to make the network fully operational.
Compute in space isn’t speculative fiction anymore, said David Ariosto, author and founder of space intelligence firm The Space Agency. Elon Musk has already proven himself capable across multiple domains.
A Traditional Concept Faces Modern Economic Realities
Locates propose that space-based data centers could be more economical than Earth-based ones, benefiting from continuous solar energy and efficient heat dissipation. However, specialists warn that significant commercial benefits remain distant due to major challenges and technical risks, including:
- Radiation
- Debris
- Heat Management
- Latency
- High Maintenance Costs
There are major challenges here, and the question is how to make it cost-effective, said Armand Musey, founder of Summit Ridge Group. He noted that the financial details of such a product are difficult to model because the technical unknowns haven’t been clarified.
But never say never! Musey added, describing Musk’s track record as unbelievable. Much of this is a bet on Elon. His success is hard to ignore.
Despite Musk’s ambitions, some experts believe space-based data centers may not be feasible for at least another decade.
The physics underlying space-based infrastructure is well established. Efforts to harness solar power in orbit began during the Cold War when the US Department of Energy and NASA studied these concepts in the 1970s and ultimately found them unfeasible due to high launch and materials costs.
Musk’s approach differs because his companies control key elements of the system, including:
- The rockets for hardware deployment
- The data transmission links to Earth
- A Musk-owned social network to drive demand for affordable AI computing
SpaceX has structural advantages that few others can match:
- It controls the world’s most active launch fleet.
- Has demonstrated mass production of spacecraft via Starlink
- Has access to substantial private capital
Said Kathleen Curlee, a research analyst at Georgetown University.
Testing Chips With Radiation
Radiation and cooling are two of the biggest challenges for space data centers.
Data center hardware in space is exposed to cosmic rays from the sun. In the past, chips designed for space were specially hardened to withstand radiation, but they were usually slower than today’s top AI chips.
Cooling AI chips is another major challenge because they generate significant heat during operation. Even though space is cold, it is almost avacuum, so heat cannot escape as it does on Earth. Instead, the powerful chips need large radiators to release heat as infrared energy, which increases the size, weight, and cost.
A filing with the FCC explains that SpaceX uses passive heat dissipation into space for cooling. The filing also describes how satellites that stop working quickly fall out of orbit.
Recently, Google tested one of its AI chips by exposing it to radiation in a university lab in California. The goal was to see whether the chip could last through a 5-6-year space mission as part of Project Suncatcher, which aims to connect solar-powered satellites into an AI cloud in orbit.
They held up well against that, said Travis Beals, a senior executive at Google and the project’s leader, which plans a prototype launch to space in 2027.
Source: Musk’s mega-merger of SpaceX and xAI bets on sci-fi future of data centers in space
