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Term · Checked October 29, 2026

Orbital compute

Running AI computers on satellites instead of on the ground, powered by sunlight. Musk's memo at the February 2, 2026 xAI acquisition described it as a main aim of the merger.

Source: TechCrunch

Space & orbit

Related terms

Related terms

Low Earth orbit (LEO)
Orbits up to about 2,000 km above Earth. Starlink's satellites fly there.
AI data center
A building full of GPUs, power and cooling, used to train and run AI models. Colossus is xAI's.
Gigawatt (GW)
A billion watts. The size of an AI data center is now often quoted in power, not chip count.

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About Orbital compute

Orbital compute

Musk moves orbital AI computer launch target to late 2027

Musk said SpaceX and Nvidia designed a space-optimized Vera Rubin NVL72 computer for orbit, with a first launch targeted for the fourth quarter of 2027 and significant scale in 2028, as reported by Yahoo Finance.

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Starlink

Starcloud to use Starlink laser terminals in orbit

Starcloud contracted for more than 50 Starlink Mini Laser terminals for over 25 satellites, reported May 26, 2026. Each link is rated up to 25 Gbps over up to 4,000 km, with first flight hardware expected within a year.

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Company

SpaceX announces it has acquired xAI

SpaceX announced on February 2, 2026 that it had acquired xAI. Bloomberg valued the combined company at $1.25 trillion, and Elon Musk's memo tied the deal largely to building data centers in space.

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Orbital compute

SpaceX files FCC application for orbital data centers

SpaceX filed with the FCC on January 30, 2026 for a system of up to one million data center satellites at 500 to 2,000 km. The FCC accepted it for comment on February 4, 2026.

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All explained