SpaceX wants to fill Earth orbit with a million datacenter satellites
Summary
SpaceX has applied to the FCC for permission to deploy up to one million satellites as an “orbital datacentre” constellation, with proposed orbital shells between roughly 500 km and 2,000 km. The FCC’s Space Bureau accepted the application for public comment on 30 January 2026, opening a consultation window that closes on 6 March 2026.
The filing is sparse on technical specifics but claims satellites would use high-bandwidth optical links, route traffic via Starlink to authorised ground stations, and could deliver around 100 kW of power per metric tonne allocated to computing. The plan leans heavily on SpaceX’s Starship for mass launches. Experts warn the proposal would dramatically increase orbital congestion, raise the risk of Kessler Syndrome, and severely affect astronomical observations.
Key Points
- SpaceX applied to the FCC for a constellation of up to 1,000,000 orbital datacentre satellites; the FCC has opened the proposal for public comment.
- Proposed orbital altitudes span multiple shells between ~500 km and ~2,000 km above Earth.
- SpaceX mentions high-bandwidth optical inter-satellite links, routing via Starlink, and an ambitious power-to-compute claim (~100 kW per tonne).
- The plan assumes Starship will provide the heavy-launch capability required to scale the constellation.
- Astronomers and orbital experts warn the proposal would massively increase collision risk, interfere with observations, and could worsen space debris problems (Kessler Syndrome).
- Mitigation would likely require active debris-removal “tow-truck” satellites; companies such as Astroscale are developing such tech.
- The FCC public-comment period closes on 6 March 2026 — stakeholders and the public can submit responses now.
Context and relevance
Earth orbit is already crowded — there were roughly 14,500 active payloads at the start of 2026, nearly 9,600 of which are Starlink birds. Scaling that to a million active satellites would be unprecedented and changes the calculus for space traffic management, astronomy, and environmental stewardship of near-Earth space.
For readers interested in cloud infrastructure, telecommunications, regulation or space policy, the proposal highlights where commercial ambition, national regulators and scientific communities will clash. It also underscores dependencies on technologies not yet mature at scale (massive reusable launch capacity, reliable orbital maintenance and deorbiting systems, and resilient inter-satellite networking).
Author style
Punchy: this isn’t a sleepy filing — it’s a blockbuster proposal that could reshape orbital governance, astronomy and the launch market. Read the detail because the implications are huge and the devil’s in the technical and regulatory fine print.
Why should I read this?
Short version: because this isn’t sci‑fi any more — it’s now a live regulatory filing. If you care about keeping the night sky usable for science, preventing runaway space debris, or understanding where big compute and telecom infrastructure might move next, this affects you. Also, the FCC is asking for input — so if you think this plan’s bonkers (or brilliant), here’s your chance to say so.