SpaceX has announced that its first AI orbital data centres are expected to launch in the final quarter of 2027, reported Bloomberg.
The announcement, made by CEO Elon Musk on X, also projects that the satellite network will reach “significant scale” in 2028.
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SpaceX has submitted an application to the Federal Communications Commission, seeking approval to deploy up to one million satellites to provide complex AI computing in orbit.
According to Musk, each satellite data centre is intended to be “significantly simpler, lower cost, denser and lighter than a traditional rack.”
The company plans to use Nvidia’s chips to power these satellites after previously considering various designs, ultimately deciding to implement Nvidia’s systems exclusively for the planned space-based AI infrastructure.
Nvidia later confirmed its involvement, stating that SpaceX will adopt its Vera central processing unit to enhance computing performance across its next generation of AI agents, including the Grok model.
The creation of an orbital data centre network marks SpaceX’s strategy to offer an alternative to traditional land-based data centres. The company positions this approach as potentially less costly and with fewer environmental impacts.
Earlier this year, SpaceX stated in its debut earnings report that launch of the orbital data centres could begin in 2028. Musk’s updated statement now brings forward the planned launch date to the end of next year.
The move to space-based data centres aligns with SpaceX’s recent public offering disclosures and forms part of its ongoing pursuit of large-scale commercial satellite networks aimed at supporting AI computing demands.
In June 2026, SpaceX entered into a multi-year contract with Reflection AI to provide the startup with data centre computing capacity worth approximately $1.8bn annually.
