SpaceX asked the US Federal Communications Commission, the American telecoms regulator, for authorisation to launch a constellation of up to one million solar-powered satellites that would function as AI data centres in orbit, in a filing lodged in January 2026, according to Crypto Briefing. Elon Musk set out details of the satellites, referred to internally as AI1, on June 8 and 9, 2026, the outlet reported, with mass production targeted for the end of 2027.
Key facts
- The FCC filing seeks permission for up to one million solar-powered satellites acting as orbital AI data centres (Crypto Briefing).
- Musk said AI1 units will have a simpler design than current Starlink satellites, with first orbital AI computing tests around the end of 2027.
- SpaceX third-quarter revenue rose 161% to $14.58 billion and net income reached $4.4 billion, against a $1.1 billion loss a year earlier, NBC News reported on October 20.
- AI revenue rose more than ninefold to $7.6 billion, mostly from renting out computing capacity, and absorbed $16.4 billion of the company’s $19.6 billion in capital spending.
- Starlink reached 13.6 million subscribers, while average monthly revenue per subscriber fell from $99 in 2023 to $69.
Why it matters for Starlink customers
For satellite internet users, the significance is where the money goes. NBC News reports that Starlink and SpaceX’s broader connectivity operations have been the company’s main financial engine, underpinning Musk’s AI ambitions, while AI now takes the largest share of investment — $16.4 billion of $19.6 billion in the quarter. In other words, the dish on a customer’s roof is funding the orbital compute plan, not the other way round.
What SpaceX has filed for — and its own caveats
Crypto Briefing says SpaceX’s advantage is Starship itself: the economics of reusable launches could in theory let the company add tens of gigawatts of computing power at minimal marginal cost per launch. The outlet also reports SpaceX has been quietly preparing for a pre-IPO push, and frames a working orbital compute network as the kind of moonshot that appeals to public-market investors.
It is not a sure thing, and SpaceX has said so. Crypto Briefing reports the company has acknowledged that the immediate commercial viability of orbital data centres remains uncertain, citing latency, maintenance complexity, launch forces and radiation exposure.
Where the AI money actually comes from
The AI revenue is not coming from SpaceX’s own models. NBC News says the company earns it mainly by renting data centre capacity to developers including Anthropic, Alphabet’s Google and Reflection AI — a business closer to a cloud provider’s than an AI lab’s.
That business is not yet paying for itself. Capital expenses nearly tripled and SpaceX expects spending to stay near that level in the near future, NBC News reports, with large operating losses at the AI unit and a company warning that sustained investment will be needed before consistent profits. Writing six days before the results, Yahoo Finance described Starlink as the only profitable division and the Grok-centred AI operation as expanding fast but unprofitable.
Subscribers, prices and where Starlink goes next
The satellite internet unit kept expanding, NBC News reports, with 13.6 million Starlink subscribers reported for the quarter against 12.19 million expected by analysts, helped by more launches and a wider range of consumer, enterprise, aviation, maritime and government services. On the company’s own figures, the price per customer moved the other way: ARPU of $69 is roughly 30% below the $99 of 2023, so the revenue growth is being driven by volume rather than by charging each household more.
For anyone shopping for a connection, that split is the practical takeaway. The lowest entry prices are appearing where Starlink is newest, with cheaper plans in newer markets, while long-established markets are where the company is testing the other direction, including the pricing experiments in mature markets that pushed one US tier as high as $156 a month. Existing subscribers in mature markets should expect price structure, not hardware, to be the thing that changes first.
Availability, though, still moves country by country rather than quarter by quarter. The subscriber additions NBC News attributes to a higher launch rate and a broader service lineup only reach a given country once a national regulator issues a licence — the stage Gabon is at now with both Starlink and Eutelsat. Prospective customers in unlicensed markets are therefore waiting on a regulator, not on satellite supply; the AI1 filing sits with the FCC and does not change that queue.
What to watch
On the investor call, Musk said: “We are in an inflection moment for SpaceX across launch, connectivity and superintelligence,” according to NBC News. The date to watch, Crypto Briefing says, is the end of 2027 and SpaceX’s first orbital AI computing tests.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why would anyone put a data centre in orbit instead of on the ground?
According to Crypto Briefing, the case rests on two things terrestrial facilities struggle with: power and cooling. In orbit, solar energy is abundant and uninterrupted by weather or night, and cooling — which the outlet says accounts for a large share of ground data centre operating costs — becomes dramatically easier in vacuum.
Has a company already run AI hardware in space?
Yes. Crypto Briefing reports that Starcloud, an Nvidia-backed venture, became the first to deploy and operate an Nvidia H100 GPU in space in November 2025, and ran Google’s Gemini AI model on the orbiting hardware.
How much electricity are data centres expected to consume?
Crypto Briefing cites projections that global data centre electricity demand will reach between 1,200 and 1,700 terawatt-hours by 2035, roughly 4% of all electricity consumed worldwide. The outlet also notes governments are already pushing back on new data centre construction because of grid strain.
What does this mean for Starlink pricing going forward?
No price changes have been announced alongside the AI plan. NBC News reports SpaceX has said expansion beyond the wealthiest countries could push average revenue per user lower over time, and that investors have been watching whether that pressure is already showing. The same report says capital spending is expected to stay near third-quarter levels, which leaves the connectivity business carrying the build-out.
Will the AI satellites compete with Starlink for launch capacity?
They draw on the same vehicle. NBC News reports Starship, which has yet to enter commercial service, is expected to deploy both higher-bandwidth Starlink satellites and orbital AI-computing infrastructure, and that SpaceX has increasingly prioritised launches for its own network over third-party payloads.
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