SpaceX has indicated that Elon Musk's project to build data centers in space may not meet expectations. This was noted in their IPO registration filing, as reported by Reuters.
“Our projects for developing orbital AI computing, as well as intra-orbital, lunar, and interplanetary industrialization, are in the early stages. They involve high technical complexity, utilize unproven technologies, and may turn out to be commercially unviable,” the document states.
The aerospace company is currently preparing for an IPO that could potentially be the largest in history. SpaceX aims for a valuation of around $1.75 trillion and plans to raise $75 billion in the coming months.
In January, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Musk described the creation of AI data centers in space as an “obvious solution” during a conversation with BlackRock CEO Larry Fink. He stated that orbit would become “the cheapest place to host artificial intelligence capabilities” within two to three years.
In February, SpaceX merged with the AI startup xAI to form a company valued at $1.25 trillion. At that time, the billionaire stated that the goal of the merger was to create data centers beyond Earth.
“Modern advancements in artificial intelligence rely on large ground-based data centers that require vast amounts of energy and cooling. The global demand for electricity simply cannot be met with solutions on Earth without harming people and the environment,” he wrote.
The idea seems straightforward: satellites equipped with AI chips could harness nearly constant solar energy in space, avoiding terrestrial limitations on space, energy, and cooling.
However, turning this vision into reality is a different challenge, which SpaceX acknowledges. The IPO filing mentions that orbital data centers will operate in a “harsh and unpredictable space environment,” where equipment may fail.
SpaceX's advantage over competitors lies in its experience and technology. The company has already deployed the Starlink satellite network and is developing the fully reusable Starship rocket.
Musk believes that Starship will help reduce launch costs, making large-scale orbital infrastructure a reality.
However, the Starship itself carries risks. The rocket, designed to launch much heavier payloads than previous models, has already experienced failures during testing and has fallen behind schedule.
SpaceX emphasized that further failures could limit its growth strategy.
It is worth noting that in March, Nvidia announced plans to create a computing platform for orbital data centers.