{"id":17056,"date":"2026-01-31T23:55:55","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T15:55:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/spacex-seeks-go-ahead-from-the-fcc-to-put-up-to-a-million-data-center-satellites-in-orbit\/"},"modified":"2026-01-31T23:55:55","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T15:55:55","slug":"spacex-seeks-go-ahead-from-the-fcc-to-put-up-to-a-million-data-center-satellites-in-orbit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/spacex-seeks-go-ahead-from-the-fcc-to-put-up-to-a-million-data-center-satellites-in-orbit\/","title":{"rendered":"SpaceX seeks go-ahead from the FCC to put up to a million data center satellites in orbit"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1260\" height=\"840\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/220203-streaks-1260x840.jpg\" alt=\"Starlink satellites with Venus and the Pleiades\" class=\"wp-image-673861\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/220203-streaks-1260x840.jpg 1260w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/220203-streaks-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/220203-streaks-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/220203-streaks-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/220203-streaks-630x420.jpg 630w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1260px) 100vw, 1260px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" class=\"wp-element-caption\">This time-lapse image of Venus and the Pleiades shows the tracks of SpaceX\u2019s Starlink satellites. The image received an award in the 2021 IAU OAE Astrophotography Contest. (Torsten Hansen \/ IAU OAE \/ Creative Commons Attribution)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>SpaceX founder Elon Musk wasn\u2019t kidding about his plans to go big with orbital data centers: The company is asking the Federal Communications Commission to approve a plan to put up to a million satellites in orbit to process data for artificial intelligence applications.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLaunching a constellation of a million satellites that operate as orbital data centers is a first step towards becoming a Kardashev II-level civilization \u2014 one that can harness the sun\u2019s full power \u2014 while supporting AI-driven applications for billions of people today and ensuring humanity\u2019s multiplanetary future amongst the stars,\u201d SpaceX said in an application filed with the FCC on Friday.<\/p>\n<p>If realized, the plan could pose a challenge to AI titans including Microsoft, Amazon, Google and OpenAI \u2014 and to Seattle-area space companies such as Starcloud, Sophia Space and Jeff Bezos\u2019 Blue Origin space venture, all of which are aiming to serve the emerging data center market.<\/p>\n<p>On the other hand, it could be a boon for SpaceX\u2019s manufacturing facility in Redmond, Wash., which produces the satellites for SpaceX\u2019s Starlink broadband constellation; and for Musk\u2019s xAI company, which has been the focus of merger talks as SpaceX considers an initial public offering. The Wall Street Journal quoted unidentified sources as saying that Musk decided to take SpaceX public in part to raise more capital to build orbital data centers and to help xAI.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Musk's SpaceX Said to Weigh Tie-Up With Tesla or xAI\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/KsklaZ1y-ho?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><br \/>\n<\/figure>\n<p>AI companies have been considering the idea of using solar-powered data center satellites to get around the limiting factors for ground-based facilities, such as rapidly growing requirements for electrical power as well as the availability of water for cooling systems.<\/p>\n<p>SpaceX\u2019s application plays up the advantages of off-Earth data processing: \u201cBy directly harnessing near-constant solar power with little operating or maintenance costs, these satellites will achieve transformative cost and energy efficiency while significantly reducing the environmental impact associated with terrestrial data centers,\u201d it says.<\/p>\n<p>Musk made the job sound simple when he discussed the prospects for orbital data centers on his X social-media platform last October: \u201cSimply scaling up Starlink V3 satellites, which have high-speed laser links, would work,\u201d he wrote. \u201cSpaceX will be doing this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But SpaceX\u2019s application lays out a relatively complex arrangement: Thousands of satellites would be arranged in orbital shells ranging from 500 to 2,000 kilometers (310 to 1,242 miles) above Earth, with each shell spanning up to 50 kilometers (31 miles) in altitude. Each satellite would be equipped with radiator panels to dissipate heat in the vacuum of space. <\/p>\n<p>SpaceX says it can manage the safe disposal of satellites when they reach the end of their operating life. The company insists that its control systems would be able to head off collisions between satellites, and that most data transmissions would be beamed via laser light \u2014 which it says would reduce the risk of interference with other companies\u2019 satellites. However, the satellites would also use Ka-band radio transmissions as a backup.<\/p>\n<p>The new constellation\u2019s satellite-to-satellite laser links \u201cmay connect among or between those satellites and satellites in SpaceX\u2019s first- and second-generation Starlink system,\u201d SpaceX says.<\/p>\n<p>To accelerate the development of the constellation, SpaceX is asking the FCC to issue waivers that would exempt the project from several regulatory hurdles, including a processing round that would give other satellite operators an opportunity to weigh in on the plan.<\/p>\n<p>The application doesn\u2019t explain in detail what SpaceX would do to mitigate the effect on astronomical observations or views of the night sky \u2014 an issue that has sparked controversy in the context of Starlink. Last September, a study led by Dutch astronomers found that interference from Starlink was blinding the work of the research community.<\/p>\n<p>As you\u2019d expect, SpaceX paints a brighter picture: \u201cSpaceX will continue its long track record of successful collaboration and innovation with the scientific and astronomy community to preserve their critical missions, including by developing industry-leading brightness mitigation,\u201d the application says. \u201cFurthermore, SpaceX will explore with the scientific community ways to use the powerful AI tools enabled by this constellation to accelerate their research and enhance space exploration.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In a post to X, Musk argued that even a million more satellites won\u2019t make much of an impact. \u201cThe satellites will actually be so far apart that it will be hard to see from one to another,\u201d he wrote. \u201cSpace is so vast as to be beyond comprehension.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This time-lapse image of Venus and the Pleiades shows the tracks of SpaceX\u2019s Starlink satellites. The image received an award in the 2021 IAU OAE Astrophotography Contest. (Torsten Hansen \/ IAU OAE \/ Creative Commons Attribution) SpaceX founder Elon Musk wasn\u2019t kidding about his plans to go big with orbital data centers: The company is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4374,277,1720,4336,316,440],"class_list":["post-17056","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-data-centers","tag-fcc","tag-federal-communications-commission","tag-satellite-broadband","tag-spacex","tag-starlink"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17056"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17056"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17056\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17056"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}