SpaceX targets first orbital AI compute satellites next year, sun as the power plant
XFreeze · x · 2026-09-19
In a conversation with BlackRock's Tony Kim, SpaceX CFO Bret Johnsen laid out the economics of space-based AI compute: solar energy is free clean power, letting orbital datacenters tap the sun directly instead of competing on Earth for land, power plants, and grid connections. The timeline is the surprise — while most of the AI industry treats orbital compute as years away, SpaceX targets its first orbital compute satellites next year and massive compute in space by 2028. "The sun becomes the power plant."
Related event: SpaceX Targets 100 GW of Orbital Compute per Year by Decade's End(2 posts)→
More from Infra
- ByteDance details USDB storage system: 85.8% lower write latency for recommender sequences — _reachsumit · 2026-11-04
- Oracle cancels $7B chip leasing deal with Tencent, FT reports — SumitGup · 2026-11-04
- Inference engine shrunk to 1023 bytes, still runs SmolLM2-135M — cneuralnetwork · 2026-11-04
- Musk says space data centers are 'looking pretty appealing right now' — elonmusk · 2026-11-04
- Data centers are turning to old jet engines as the wait for power grows — IndependentCoast3974 · 2026-11-04
- Intel may discontinue Arc B580 to prioritize higher-margin Arc Pro cards as B70 prices rise — chemist_slime · 2026-11-04