Posted on 01/31/2026 3:27:11 AM PST by SmokingJoe
BREAKING: SpaceX wants to turn Space into the World’s Biggest AI Data Center.
• SpaceX is seeking approval to launch and operate up to one million satellites designed to function as orbital data centers.
• These satellites would provide massive computing power to support advanced artificial intelligence and data processing.
• The system would rely on near constant solar energy in space, reducing operating costs and environmental impact compared to Earth based data centers.
• Satellites would operate between 500 km and 2,000 km in altitude, across multiple orbital shells, to handle global demand.
• High speed laser links would connect the satellites with each other and with the Starlink network, enabling petabit level data transfer.
• Data would ultimately be routed to authorized ground stations around the world.
• SpaceX says demand from AI, machine learning, and edge computing is growing faster than terrestrial infrastructure can handle.
The company frames this as a major step toward a future where humanity becomes a multi planetary civilization powered by space based infrastructure.
(Excerpt) Read more at x.com ...
All valid questions. These issues were not raised in prior years because we did not have the technology to insert 1000s of objects into orbit in a cost-effective manner. Now with SpaceX, we do.
I cannot answer all of your concerns. But if anyone can get this done, it will be Elon Musk. Truly a once in a generation genius.
He makes the future more interesting.
“Elon’s genius presents us with stunning upside possibilities...”
Great thread. Thanks to all posters.
What will happen when someone detonates a large nuke in space? Talk about putting your eggs in the most fragile basket ever.
AI in space with lasers...
That there is the substance of a good sci-fi novel.
Correct. Cooling would have to be radiatively based. I can imagine instead of solar panels extending like wings as they do on most satellites, there would be a wall of sun-facing panels, and the AI component would be behind that wall in the “shade”.
What will happen when someone detonates a large nuke in earth, next to data centers?
Which is more likely? Think about it.
On earth of course, which has happened lots of times already, going back to Hiroshima in 1945.
Wrong. An attack on US territory would bring about MAD result, end of civilization. The only way we were able to use atomic weapons in WWII was because Japan didn’t have a bomb.
Space warfare is just emerging. No rules yet. The US relies on space for it superiority in warfare and that’s also a vulnerability. If GPS went away, who suffers most? The US and western world. Same with many other C4I capabilities.
Enemies are going to exploit this vulnerability. And the results will affect military and commercial systems alike. The radiation effects alone will take out most commercial system in hours or days. Space becomes a useless wasteland of Kessler breakups. Now if an enemy does explode a nuke in space, would that trigger MAD? Likely not. War yes, but a nuclear exchange, doubtful.
Like I asked, think about the risk of putting more critical infrastructure in the most fragile place possible.
A lot of people will die, and the attacked country, or its allies, will shoot nukes back.
A nuke in space would not kill anyone, but the proximate result might be serious economic damage.
Before getting too excited about grandiose space fantasies, i want to know how that Boring Company is working out ...
Nope.
Grok:
“Nuclear weapons tests (also called nuclear test explosions) conducted on Earth since the first one in 1945 is 2,056, according to the most widely cited and authoritative source: the Arms Control Association’s Nuclear Testing Tally (last confirmed in sources up through 2025–2026 with no new tests reported).
This figure excludes the two atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 (which were combat uses, not tests). It counts test explosions only, including both military weapon tests and a smaller number of “peaceful nuclear explosions” (mostly by the Soviet Union).”
Nuclear weapons exploded in space
A BIG FAT ZERO!
Over 2000 nukes have been exploded on earth.
How many have been exploded in space?
Answer : ZERO!
“same as you are not paying for them now.”
True, however it is down the pipe that I’m speaking of - the 1000’s of ISP’s in this country for example are likely to lease the internet connectivity, businesses especially. Also this is not necessarily a bad thing. You know the cellphone technology will be part of this too, that type of stuff.
Be blind if you want. No one’s going to do it until they are ready to go to war. Then that will be the first shot. It will result in everything we take for granted today going away.
No comms, forget your DTV, no cell phone service as that relies on gps for timing, no electronic banking for the same reason, no star link, no gps navigation, no iridium, no global star, etc etc
Just looking at the business case why would you invest billions in putting critical AI in a place where in a flash it’s all gone? And who are the customers for this AI? I can almost guarantee the biggest customers of AI are going to be those with military applications, those least likely to want to invest in a non-survivable system.
Nonsense.
You’ll pay for what you use. The proliferation of computing power will drive the cost down, not up.
NASA (US govt) is space x biggest customer. To say space x doesn’t need subsidies is just false.
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