SpaceX just dropped what might be the most ambitious infrastructure proposal in tech history. The company filed an FCC request on Friday seeking approval to launch 1 million solar-powered data center satellites into low Earth orbit, a move that would dwarf the company's existing Starlink network and fundamentally reshape how AI infrastructure gets built. While regulators are unlikely to greenlight anywhere near that number, the filing signals how serious Big Tech has become about escaping earthbound data center constraints.
SpaceX isn't asking for permission anymore - it's asking how many satellites regulators will stomach. The company's Friday filing with the FCC proposes launching 1 million solar-powered data centers into low Earth orbit, a number so audacious it makes the company's existing Starlink network look restrained by comparison.
The proposal, first reported by Bloomberg, outlines a network of orbital compute facilities that communicate via laser and draw power directly from the sun. It's classic SpaceX negotiating tactics - ask for an impossibly large number as a starting point, then settle for something still unprecedented. The company used the same playbook when requesting approval for 7,500 additional Starlink satellites last year.
But even a fraction of 1 million satellites would represent a seismic shift in orbital infrastructure. The European Space Agency currently estimates around 15,000 satellites orbit Earth today, with Starlink accounting for over 11,000 of them according to . Adding even 100,000 data center satellites would multiply space traffic sevenfold.
