SpaceX wants to be an artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics company with the rocket system currently in use also being used to launch their AI data center in space. They are now targeting the launch of the initial test of their first space AI computing infrastructure by the end of 2027. This is earlier than the original plan of early 2028 stated in the IPO listing documents.
In the same document, SpaceX claims that they are “the only company with the commercial capability to build a data center in orbit at a large scale”. SpaceX has already applied for permission to launch up to 1 million data center satellites into orbit.
The first version of the AI satellite is expected to use NVIDIA chips. In March, NVIDIA announced the first module is the NVIDIA Space-1 Vera Rubin Module module designed specifically for AI data center use in space. Before that, Starcloud successfully launched the first AI satellite into orbit in late 2025 equipped with NVIDIA H100 GPUs.
The idea of an AI data center in space grew out of the issues of land scarcity, power resources and high water consumption by data centers on Earth. Theoretically, space AI data centers would not require liquid cooling systems and an unlimited source of power could be drawn from the sun.
