SpaceX's plans are getting clear: in addition to rockets and satellites, it's AI and data centres in space

Many may have missed an important meeting last October: NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang visited SpaceX’s launch site at Starbase and, during his visit, presented Elon Musk with a DGX Spark, the world’s smallest supercomputer. As the photo above shows, the device is indeed very small.

And now, after the news of the past weeks and days, things are beginning to come together.

Rumors about SpaceX going public later this year have been circulating for some time, and the result could be one of the world’s largest companies, right behind Microsoft, Apple, Nvidia, Saudi Aramco, Google’s Alphabet, and Amazon. The company’s value is estimated at around one and a half trillion dollars — 1.5 trillion USD. That is roughly sixteen times Finland’s annual national budget.

Last weekend it was reported that on January 30, SpaceX submitted an application to the U.S. telecommunications regulator, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), seeking permission to launch up to one million satellites into orbit and use them as data centers, primarily for the computing needs of artificial intelligence.

And now, on February 2, it was reported that SpaceX has acquired xAI, which develops AI technologies and operates the social media platform X (formerly Twitter).

The terms and sums of the deal have not been disclosed, but behind it all is Elon Musk, who holds a controlling stake in both companies.

For some time now, Musk has been promoting the idea that space is the best place to locate servers to support the internet and AI, since space offers nearly unlimited electricity — harvested directly from the Sun with solar panels. Servers in orbit would also be convenient because of the growing space-based communications infrastructure (Starlink and its future competitors).

According to Musk, global electricity consumption simply cannot meet AI’s needs without causing harm to communities and the environment.

Huang’s meeting with Musk is surely connected to this, since NVIDIA would gladly supply hardware for SpaceX’s orbital data centers — or SpaceX would gladly launch NVIDIA’s data centers into space.

Starship lits off  on its 11th test mission. Photo: SpaceX

SpaceX intends to begin using the rocket for satellite launches already this year. Photo: SpaceX

In any case, a clear line and connection can be seen here, similar to how the Starlink satellite system and the Falcon 9 rocket have been linked together.

By launching large numbers of satellites with its own partially reusable rocket, SpaceX has been able not only to rapidly build its Starlink system, but also to make Falcon 9 launches routine. In this way, SpaceX has risen to an almost monopolistic position both in launching satellites into space and in satellite telecommunications.

The new giant rocket Starship, in turn, is fully reusable and has far greater payload capacity. It is also designed for rapid turnaround between flights. Even in more modest projections, Starships could fly around a thousand times per year from launch sites in Texas and Florida.

Starships can carry roughly 150 tons to orbit at once, making the construction of data centers in space entirely feasible at reasonable cost. Musk even claims these centers could be cheaper to build than terrestrial data centers.

Although Musk has spoken a great deal about data centers in recent months, he says Mars remains the ultimate goal, and that he remains NASA’s partner as the United States returns to the surface of the Moon. In fact, all of these are connected: orbital data centers would, according to Musk, eventually enable expanding bases on the Moon and the founding of Mars settlements.

And in addition, data centers would generate huge revenues, which SpaceX and Musk could use to pursue their Mars ambitions. There are still many twists ahead, but the direction is clear.

The Starlink network now has around 10,000 satellites, with more being launched several times a week. Data-center satellites would be launched one hundred times more – every day.

Starlink satellites have grown significantly over the years. Next, data centers will join them. Photo: SpaceX

The application submitted to the FCC does not yet mean the satellites will actually be launched — it is the beginning of a regulatory process. Ultimately, the FCC must approve or reject the application, or demand changes. Especially in today’s political climate, it will likely be approved.

This is simultaneously an amazing and a frightening development. Technically, Falcon 9, Starship, Starlink, and likely future orbital data centers are incredibly exciting achievements that offer extraordinary possibilities — but technology that is light-years ahead of others also brings power that can be misused: nearly all of the world’s data could end up flowing through SpaceX (and the United States).

It is easy to imagine SpaceX gradually becoming the world’s largest, most powerful, and most influential company — one that could shape the affairs of entire nations.

At the moment, the rest of the world is simply unable to compete with SpaceX.