Space exploration technology company has proposed to build a satellite data center network.

On January 30, the American space exploration technology company submitted an application to the Federal Communications Commission to deploy a system consisting of up to 1 million satellites in near-earth orbit, building an on-orbit data center network to support high-performance computing needs such as artificial intelligence. According to the application documents disclosed by multiple American media outlets, the space exploration technology company believes that on-orbit data centers can be a solution to rapidly growing global computing power demands. These satellites are planned to operate in near-earth orbit at heights ranging from approximately 500 to 2000 kilometers, with an orbit inclination of around 30 degrees, relying on solar power. The application documents state that these satellites will be operated directly using solar power, aimed at reducing operational and maintenance costs, improving energy efficiency, and reducing the pressure on traditional ground-based data centers in terms of energy consumption and the environment. On January 9, the space exploration technology company received approval from the Federal Communications Commission to launch 7,500 second-generation "Starlink" satellites, to provide high-speed, low-latency internet services. The total approved number of "Starlink" satellites has thus increased to around 15,000. Industry experts point out that such large-scale orbit deployment plans face multiple challenges such as launch costs, satellite operations and maintenance, orbit congestion, risks of increasing space debris, and regulatory scrutiny, and whether the related applications will be approved is still pending further evaluation by regulatory agencies.