Space & Astronomy

Elon Musk's proposed orbital data centers will be larger than the ISS

By T.K. Randall
March 24, 2026 ·  0 comments

Image: Elon Musk at the SpaceX CRS-8 post-launch press conference
Credit: Kim Shiflett / (PD) NASA There are few who could argue that Elon Musk lacks ambition, as evidenced again this week with the reveal of the billionaire's upcoming plans for space and artificial intelligence.

One of his goals, which we briefly reported on a few weeks back, is to launch orbital AI data centers that will harness solar energy to produce computational power.

During his briefing this week, Musk revealed a concept for these data centers - hinting at enormous orbital platforms larger than the International Space Station that would be visible in the night sky.

Each data center will produce 100 kilowatts of AI computing, though he also hints at much larger platforms later down the line that will be capable of generating more than 10 times this.

To reach this goal, SpaceX is planning to launch over 1 million satellites."We're confident this is feasible," said Musk.

"Like no new physics, or impossible things are required to get there."

That isn't all, either, as Musk is also going to build an enormous (terrestrial) chip manufacturing facility that will create AI chips at a rate 50 times greater than that of the entire world's output.

These chips would be used in humanoid robots, electric cars and in orbital satellites.

Before long, he argues, 10 billion robots per year will be needed to support all of this infrastructure.

Artificial intelligence, it seems, will soon be expanding at an exponential rate.


Source: PC Magazine | Comments (0)

Tags: Elon Musk, SpaceX, Terafab