The step to help build Musk’s space data center

In a video posted on SpaceX’s X account on June 9, billionaire Elon Musk revealed the detailed design of AI1 – the first generation in a series of satellites that the company plans to use as a data center in orbit. AI1 is 20 m high and has a wingspan of 70 m, surpassing the 68.4 m wingspan of the Boeing 747-8, and could become the largest satellite SpaceX has ever launched.

AI1’s design essentially includes a computing module, a large solar panel system, and a liquid cooler that can be collapsed and expanded. Musk estimates the AI1 satellite’s computing power is equivalent to an Nvidia GB300 cabinet. It has an average computing power of 120 kW, maximum 150 kW, with a performance announced by SpaceX of 70 kW/ton when operating at an altitude of 600 km. The solar battery system uses SpaceX technology, providing 250 W of electricity per m2.

AI1 can flexibly change its computing hardware, meaning SpaceX does not tie the satellite to a single chip manufacturer. Tom’s Hardware This flexible replacement ability could be very important to Musk, especially since SpaceX cannot currently guarantee its own chip supply.

The AI1 features a 110 square meter liquid cooling system, redundant pump rings and micrometeor shielding. According to research and consulting company SemiAnalysis, by comparison, the International Space Station’s (ISS) ETACS thermal control system emits about 70 kW of heat – half the amount needed to cool the GB300 cabinet – on a heatsink area of ​​422 m2 at a cost of up to $500 million.

Musk has dismissed concerns about the heat dissipation ability of orbital data centers. Communicate with SpaceNews in March, he said “it can be confirmed that SpaceX knows how to dissipate heat in space”, referring to its experience operating a network of more than 10,000 Starlink satellites.

In a post on X on June 9, Musk said that building satellites as data centers is simpler than Starlink. “Basically, AI satellites consist of many solar panels and a heatsink. You still need some laser links, but don’t need super complex antennas like Starlink,” he said, asserting that the new satellite needs to be larger in size than the currently operating Starlink satellite. By leveraging hardware and manufacturing processes developed for Starlink, Musk thinks SpaceX can quickly go from concept to actual production.

In theory, the AI1 satellite will form a cluster of data centers in orbit, which could eventually reach terawatt-level computing power. AI1 is currently SpaceX’s first and best attempt at solving the problem of AI computing in space, Musk noted. The company has not made any commitment on the time or scale of implementation.

New Gigasat factory

SpaceX also announced a project to build a new Gigasat factory in Bastrop, Texas, with an area of ​​up to 1,000,000 m2, 10 times larger than Starfactory, SpaceX’s largest space vehicle production complex today.

The factory is expected to produce solar ingots and wafers, solar cells, printed circuit boards, silicon electronic components, user terminals, connection gateways and AI satellites themselves.

Musk said the solar energy equipment manufacturing facility is under construction, and the AI ​​satellite manufacturing facility is about to start construction. SpaceX expects to produce a “significant number” of these satellites by the end of 2027. Although each satellite has a maximum computing power of 150 kW, the company aims to reach 1 GW of space AI computing capacity per year, corresponding to the launch of more than 6,000 AI1 satellites.

In January, SpaceX submitted an application to the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC), proposing to launch one million satellites as data centers in orbit. The company has signed several computing deals, including a $920 million per month contract with Google.

However, Musk’s ambitions are met with great skepticism. In February, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said that the intention to build a data center in space is “ridiculous” at present, because the technology is not yet complete.

Dr. Robert Zubrin, who designed the prototype of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) super rocket, also told Forbes: “Plan to build a huge and unbelievably expensive AI data center satellite system could cause SpaceX financial collapse.”