Elon Musk's space firm has sought permission to establish an enormous satellite array, equivalent to 100 times the existing orbital population. The company submitted a proposal to the Federal Communications Commission on Friday, outlining plans to deploy one million satellites designed to form an orbital data center. Such ambitions from Musk regarding space-based computing facilities have surfaced before, with internal sources referencing them amid reports of potential preparations for taking the organization public.
As noted in the document identified by PCMag, the proposed facility would rely on solar energy to provide substantial processing resources tailored for artificial intelligence applications. The submission specifies SpaceX's intent to position as many as one million satellites across confined orbital bands, each no wider than 50 kilometers. The filing argues that space-based data centers represent the optimal solution for addressing the surging requirements for AI processing capabilities, thanks to their utilization of solar energy alongside minimal expenses for operations and upkeep.
For perspective on the immense scale of this proposal, SpaceX has just achieved the launch of its 11,000th Starlink satellite. Not all remain operational due to potential failures, yet a third-party tracking site reports over 9,600 active in space as of January 30, 2026. Regulators at the FCC are expected to scale back the requested quantity, consistent with prior decisions. Just weeks ago, the agency greenlit an addition of 7,500 Starlink units to the constellation, succeeding a similar batch of 7,500 authorized back in 2022—figures that pale in comparison to the original nearly 30,000 sought by SpaceX in 2020.