--- title: "Elon Musk is getting serious about orbital data centers" description: "Elon Musk is advancing plans for orbital data centers, following SpaceX's recent FCC filing for a million-satellite network. The merger of SpaceX and xAI supports this initiative, with Musk advocating" type: "news" locale: "en" url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/275018668.md" published_at: "2026-02-05T18:54:16.000Z" --- # Elon Musk is getting serious about orbital data centers > Elon Musk is advancing plans for orbital data centers, following SpaceX's recent FCC filing for a million-satellite network. The merger of SpaceX and xAI supports this initiative, with Musk advocating for space-based AI computing due to the efficiency of solar power in orbit. He predicts that by 2028, space will become the most economically viable location for AI operations, potentially surpassing Earth-based data centers. As SpaceX prepares for an IPO, the focus on orbital data centers is expected to intensify, amidst significant investments in data infrastructure. On Friday, when SpaceX filed plans with the FCC for a million-satellite data center network, you might have thought Elon Musk was having a bit of fun with us. But a week later, it is clear that he is dead serious. The most obvious step, of course, is the formal merger between SpaceX and xAI that went forward on Monday, officially drawing together Musk’s space and AI ventures in a way that makes a lot more sense if there’s some kind of joint infrastructure project planned. But even beyond the merger, we’re starting to see the idea of orbital AI data clusters — essentially, networks of computers operating in space — cohere into an actual plan. On Wednesday, the FCC accepted the filing and set a schedule seeking public comment. It’s a pro forma step normally, but FCC chairman Brendan Carr took the unusual step of sharing the filing on X. Throughout his tenure as chairman, Carr has shown himself eager to help Trump’s friends and punish his enemies — so as long as Musk stays on Trump’s good side, the proposal is likely to sail through without issue. At the same time, Elon Musk has started to flesh out the argument for orbital data centers in public. On a new episode of Stripe co-founder Patrick Collison’s podcast “Cheeky Pint,” which also featured guest Dwarkesh Patel, Musk laid out the basic case for moving most of our AI computing power into space. Essentially, solar panels produce more power in space, so you can cut down on one of the main operating expenses for data centers. “It’s harder to scale on the ground than it is to scale in space,” Musk said in the podcast. “Any given solar panel is going to give you about five times more power in space than on the ground, so it’s actually much cheaper to do in space.” Close listeners will note that there is a bit of a gap in the logic here! It’s true that solar panels produce more power in space, but since power isn’t the only cost in operating a data center and solar panels aren’t the only way to power a data center, it doesn’t follow that it’s cheaper to do the whole thing in orbit, as Patel noted in the podcast. Patel also raised concerns about servicing GPUs that fail during AI model training, but you’ll have to listen to the full episode for that. > New season of Cheeky Pint starts tomorrow! First up: @dwarkesh\_sp and I sit down with @elonmusk to discuss space GPUs and much more. pic.twitter.com/dJ4dLluTMr > > — John Collison (@collision) February 4, 2026 Overall, Musk was undeterred, marking 2028 as a tipping point year for orbital data centers. “You can mark my words, in 36 months but probably closer to 30 months, the most economically compelling place to put AI will be space,” Musk said. Techcrunch event Boston, MA | June 23, 2026 He didn’t stop there. “Five years from now, my prediction is we will launch and be operating every year more AI in space than the cumulative total on Earth,” Musk continued. For context, as of 2030, global data center capacity will be an estimated 200 GW, which is roughly a trillion dollars’ worth of infrastructure when you’re just putting it on the ground. Of course, SpaceX makes its money by launching things into orbit, so all this is pretty convenient for Musk — particularly now that SpaceX has an AI company attached to it. And with the new SpaceX-xAI conglomerate headed for an IPO in just a few months, you can expect to hear a lot more about orbital data centers in the months ahead. With tech companies still pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into data center spending each year, there’s a real chance that not all the money will remain earthbound. ### Related Stocks - [SRVR.US - Pacer Data & Infrastructure Real Estate ETF](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/SRVR.US.md) - [IXN.US - ISHRS S&P Glb It](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/IXN.US.md) - [IDGT.US - iShares US Digital Infrastructure and Real Estate ETF](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/IDGT.US.md) - [AIYY.US - YieldMax AI Option Income Strategy ETF](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/AIYY.US.md) - [DAT.US - Proshares Big Data Refiners ETF](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/DAT.US.md) - [DTCR.US - Global X Data Center & Dgtl Infrs ETF](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/DTCR.US.md) - [GXAI.US - Gaxos.ai](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/GXAI.US.md) - [CLOU.US - Global X Cloud Computing ETF](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/CLOU.US.md) - [XDAT.US - Franklin Exponential Data ETF](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/XDAT.US.md) - [AI.US - C3.AI](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/AI.US.md) ## Related News & Research | Title | Description | URL | |-------|-------------|-----| | OpenAI 下調 2030 年算力開支目標至 6,000 億美元，回應擴張超收入擔憂 | 人工智慧公司 OpenAI 下調 2030 年算力開支目標至約 6,000 億美元，回應外界對其擴張計劃可能超出潛在收入承載能力的憂慮。OpenAI 預計 2030 年總收入將突破 2,800 億美元，調整後的開支計劃將與預期收入增長掛鈎。 | [Link](https://longbridge.com/en/news/276556885.md) | | 美媒爆特朗普政府擬對六行業徵收「國家安全關税」 | 美國《華爾街日報》報道，特朗普政府正考慮對六大行業徵收全新的「國家安全關税」，徵税範圍涵蓋大型電池、生鐵與鐵製配件、塑膠管道、工業化學品，以及電網與電訊設備等領域。 報道指出，有關關税將依據《1962 年貿易擴展法》第 232 條款執行，與 | [Link](https://longbridge.com/en/news/276677583.md) | | 梅耶·馬斯克表示 ‘埃隆是我的 Grok’，並回憶起他小時候閲讀百科全書，瞭解 ‘所有的事實’ | 梅耶·馬斯克，埃隆·馬斯克的母親，回憶起她兒時的聰明才智，形容他為一個能夠閲讀百科全書並記住事實的 “Grok”。她幽默地提到他在推特上與用户互動的習慣。梅耶一直支持埃隆，分享他的早期考試成績，並推廣他的人工智能公司 xAI 及其聊天機器人 | [Link](https://longbridge.com/en/news/276691314.md) | | AUI 收購了 Quack AI，這家公司開發了 AI 客户服務代理技術 | AUI 已收購 Quack AI，這是一家開發 AI 客服代理技術的公司，此次收購將使 AUI 在特拉維夫的研發團隊規模翻倍。Quack AI 成立於 2023 年，專注於可訓練的 AI 代理，以增強客户支持流程。此次收購將確保 Quack | [Link](https://longbridge.com/en/news/276636989.md) | | Slate 的經濟型電動皮卡被發現正在雪地中進行測試 | Slate Auto 的全電動皮卡車 “Blank Slate” 在雪天的密歇根州進行測試。這款簡約設計的車型沒有屏幕或揚聲器，允許通過 “Slate Maker” 門户進行廣泛的定製。起售價預計在 2 萬美元中段，官方公告計劃於 6 月發 | [Link](https://longbridge.com/en/news/276635941.md) | --- > **Disclaimer**: This article is for reference only and does not constitute any investment advice.