New FCC filing by SpaceX for constellation of million data center satellites for AI apps.

Rob Pumphrey

@AkaSci @sundogplanets
You have got to hope this is about as practical as a hyperloop.

Kierkethumbs up convincingly

@AkaSci full kardashev 3 in 18-36 months

Judy Schmidt

@AkaSci his hubris is insufferable

Ray McCarthy

@AkaSci @sundogplanets
BONKERS!

...a pleasant rascal

@AkaSci We won't be able to explore outer space because we will be trapped with near-orbit satellite debris. No really. We'll be entombed in SpaceX floaties.

Andy H

@AkaSci and all ground-based astronomy can just fsck off, right?

David

@AkaSci Just in case anyone needs to see it: this can't work with today's or even near-future technology.

https://pivot-to-ai.com/2025/12/01/ai-data-centres-in-space-why-dcs-in-space-cant-work

#OrbitalAI #DataCentersInSpaceCantWork

...a pleasant rascal

@AkaSci @sundogplanets If any of you need talking points related to NOT building AI Data centers... straight from the horses mouth. Elon admits environmental impacts AND that AI is outpacing earth's ability to effectively build and manage them.

AkaSci 🛰️

The filing is short on details and long on lofty goals and promises.

And also a bit sloppy -
"Global electricity demand for data centers is projected to more than double by 2035 driven by growth in AI — reaching ~1,200-1,700 Terawatt hours and ..."

You gotta specify TW or TW-hours per month or per year.

Also, I suspect the million satellite number comes from 1 million * 100 kw = 100 GW total power.

For comparison, Starlink v3 satellites will generate 20 kW with a 60x8 m array.

3/n

Mike Torr

@AkaSci @sundogplanets OK, this has gone far enough. Does anyone actually have a way of shooting these fucking things down as they launch? Just asking.

trainguyrom

@donaldball @AkaSci @sundogplanets especially when we could simply lay more fiber trunks across the world (technology that already exists and is awesome) and achieve multiple magnitudes more bandwidth for more people at far greater speeds and consistencies! But that wouldn't further inflate Musk's wealth so we can't have that!

rich

@AkaSci @sundogplanets we should start crowdfunding "Kessler Takedown Rockets"

AkaSci 🛰️

A blunt assessment of "AI datacenters in space” by Prof. Matthew Buckley in Dec 2025 -

"To be blunt, the entire stupid idea is a giant middle finger to multiple fundamentals of physics, and the fact that it is apparently being taken seriously by our tech lords, mainstream journalism, and political leaders is a damning indictment of not just the ridiculous amount of money chasing bad ideas in the tech/LLM/hype sector that has eaten the American economy, ..."

https://www.physicsmatt.com/blog/2025/12/11/the-dumbest-thing-ive-seen-this-week
4/n

Wulfy—Speaker to the machines

@AkaSci

Sooner or later, the unemployed, angry masses of #AiAntagonists will stop posting silly memes and start smashing #datacenters instead...

...from that perspective putting data centers in orbit is perfect protection against angry #luddite mobs...

...as a plus, cooling and power, which is the main thrust of Luddite critique (because #AI #LLM are totally useless) is taken care of in orbit...

So if you have lift capacity of $20/kg suddenly orbital data centre starts to look like a damn good investment.

Cedar Fen Farm Cedar Fen Farm

@AkaSci @sundogplanets

Will they be armed with lazers?

Ray McCarthy

@AkaSci @sundogplanets
These are mild
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kardashev_scale#Criticisms_of_the_classification

Even Kardashev I is fantasy.

Ray McCarthy

@n_dimension @AkaSci
Frank Herbert's imagined "Butlerian Jihad" in Dune is looking likely.

Multiple levels of magical thinking!

Ray McCarthy

@n_dimension @AkaSci
Cooling stuff in space is actually really hard. No evaporation cycles, convection or conduction. Only IR radiation on the "dark" side.

AkaSci 🛰️

@raymaccarthy @n_dimension
Not a problem. AI will solve it

Ray McCarthy

@AkaSci @n_dimension
You need to adjust your clothing!

That's fierce sarcasm that's exposed!

AI might, but we have no idea how to make an AI. The LLM/Generative "AI" are statistical plagiarism machines. More useful mis-named Machine learning is simply curated databases and pattern matching, with rules created by experts.

Scrape the Internet and you end up with regurgitated "Grokipedia", a NAZIfied version of Wikipedia, and a bunch on random nonsense.