SpaceX Eyes 1 Million Satellites For Orbital Data Center Push [View all]

Source: PC Mag

Late on Friday, the company filed the request with the Federal Communications Commission, describing the project as a “constellation of satellites with unprecedented computing capacity to power advanced artificial intelligence (‘AI’) models and the applications that rely on them.”

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In one 8-page document, SpaceX describes the company’s proposed “Orbital Data Center system.” “To deliver the compute capacity required for large scale AI inference and data center applications serving billions of users globally, SpaceX aims to deploy a system of up to one million satellites to operate within narrow orbital shells spanning up to 50 km each (leaving sufficient room to deconflict against other systems with comparable ambitions),” the company wrote.

The same satellites would harness the sun’s energy, orbiting at “between 500 km and 2,000 km altitude and 30 degrees and sun-synchronous orbit inclinations,” the company adds. The orbiting data centers would also use “optical links” or lasers to connect with Starlink, using the existing satellite internet system to route traffic to users below.

“Orbital data centers are the most efficient way to meet the accelerating demand for AI computing power,” the filing adds in bold, pointing to the growing energy costs of AI data centers on Earth. The company is also betting it can launch the space-based data centers at a rapid clip using SpaceX’s more powerful Starship vehicle, which is also crucial to upgrading Starlink with next-generation satellites.

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Read more: https://www.pcmag.com/news/spacex-eyes-1-million-satellites-for-orbital-data-center-push

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Starlink currently has over 9600 satellites in orbit, and had already asked the FCC to approve another 22,488 - for the second generation of Starlink - but so far has gotten approval for only 7500 of those.