SpaceX has never been shy about scale, but its latest filing to U.S. regulators sets a new bar. The company is asking permission to deploy up to 1 million satellites that would double as solar powered data centers in orbit, a proposal that stunned even seasoned space policy watchers. The plan would turn low Earth orbit into a vast computing platform for artificial intelligence, potentially reshaping both the satellite industry and the global cloud market.
The bid lands at a moment when demand for AI compute is exploding and concerns about congestion around Earth are already acute. SpaceX is pitching the constellation as a way to harness the Sun’s energy directly in space while easing pressure on terrestrial power grids, even as regulators weigh the collision and debris risks of multiplying today’s satellite population by orders of magnitude.
The audacious FCC filing that lit up Washington
In its application to the FCC, SpaceX describes a constellation that is not just thousands of spacecraft but up to a staggering “one million satellites” operating as an orbital data center network. The filing outlines orbits in low and medium altitudes and frames the system as an extension of the company’s existing broadband infrastructure rather than a separate business line. Reporting on the document notes that the satellites would be optimized for compute and storage, effectively turning each spacecraft into a node in a distributed cloud that circles the planet.
Additional details from the same regulatory paperwork, highlighted by Jeff Foust January, show SpaceX proposing to leverage its existing launch and manufacturing pipeline to scale the constellation. The company points to its experience mass producing Starlink hardware and flying frequent Falcon and Starship missions as proof it can build and deploy such a fleet. In parallel, a separate analysis of the company’s finances argues that any 2026 public listing would be “all about” the satellite business, underscoring how central orbital infrastructure has become to SpaceX’s valuation and strategy, according to one IPO discussion.
Musk’s Kardashev talk and the AI power crunch
Elon Musk has been explicit that this is not just about more internet coverage but about moving the core of AI computing into orbit. In one account of his pitch, he is described as wanting to “Seek to Launch One Million AI Satellites,” presenting the project as “Computing in the Vacuum” and even calling it a first step toward becoming a Kardashev scale civilization that taps more of the Sun’s energy, according to a description of his. He has repeatedly argued that in the race to build ever larger AI models, “the most efficient training infrastructure wins,” and that putting that infrastructure above the atmosphere could be a decisive advantage.
The timing reflects a mounting energy crunch on the ground. One analysis of the filing notes that Global electricity demand for data centers is projected to more than double by 2035, driven heavily by AI workloads. SpaceX’s pitch is that solar powered servers in orbit could offload some of that growth, providing what the company casts as more reliable and sustainable AI capacity. A separate overview of the constellation plan by Bloomberg AI notes that the satellites would operate between 500 km and 2,000 km above Earth, a band already crowded with communications hardware.
Solar powered data centers in orbit
At the heart of the proposal is a claim that running data centers in space could be cheaper and greener than building more server farms on land. SpaceX told regulators it wants to deploy 1 million solar powered data centers in orbit, arguing that tapping the Sun’s full power without atmospheric losses would cut operating costs and emissions, according to a detailed breakdown by The Verge. Each satellite would carry high performance servers and large solar arrays, effectively turning the constellation into a giant, sunlit supercomputer.
The company has formally asked for federal approval to proceed, with one report noting that Anthony Ha described the filing as a request to launch 1 million solar powered satellite data centers while acknowledging regulators’ concerns about pollution and debris. A separate summary of the application emphasizes that Musk would need the telecom regulator’s approval to move forward and that, While it is unlikely SpaceX will actually put 1 million satellites in space, the company wants permission to build toward that ceiling, according to a regulatory recap.
From Starlink to “silicon sky”
SpaceX is not starting from scratch. Its Starlink broadband network already accounts for a large share of the satellites in orbit, and the company has argued that this infrastructure is the foundation for the new data center constellation. One analysis notes that SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has said Starlink technology has created the base needed to build out a network of orbital data centers and that the company must keep expanding to stay ahead of rivals. A separate overview of the million satellite plan describes how, by placing high performance servers in space, Elon Musk aims to move the computational backbone of the AI revolution above the atmosphere, creating what some have dubbed a “silicon sky.”
Regulators are keenly aware of how quickly that sky is filling. As of January 2026, there are roughly 15,000 satellites in orbit, of which around two thirds are Starlink. Another analysis warns that as the space around Ear becomes more crowded, operators must perform constant maneuvers to avoid collisions. A separate explainer notes that if all of Earth’s satellites suddenly shut down, communications, transportation and financial systems would begin to fail and that a single catastrophic event could cause all of Earth’s satellites to crash in mere days, according to an Earth focused scenario analysis.
Safety, debris and the near miss with a Chinese satellite
Those risks are not theoretical. Earlier this week, SpaceX disclosed that it is lowering the orbits of some 4,400 Starlink satellites after a near miss with a new Chinese spacecraft, a move the company said was meant to reduce crash risk and interference with radio astronomy. In a separate account of the same incident, a company representative named Nicolls said “Starlink is beginning a significant reconfiguration of its satellite constellation focused on increasing space safety,” with more than 4,000 satellites pulled to a 300 mile orbit over the course of 2026.
That backdrop explains why regulators reacted so sharply to the idea of scaling from tens of thousands of satellites to 1 million. One overview of the filing notes that Chinese officials have already raised concerns about Starlink’s growth, while U.S. regulators are weighing how to enforce debris mitigation and end of life disposal for such a vast fleet. Another explainer on orbital risk warns that as the number of satellites climbs, the probability of cascading collisions increases, and that one catastrophic event could wipe out Earth’s satellites in days, according to an AOL analysis.
More from Morning Overview