SpaceX announced on February 2, 2024, that it has acquired xAI, marking a significant step in the company’s ongoing mission to expand humanity’s presence in space. The integration aims to create a vertically integrated entity focused on building massive, solar-powered orbital data centers that leverage advanced artificial intelligence.
This acquisition merges technologies across various sectors, including reusable rockets, space-based internet, and direct-to-mobile communications. By combining these capabilities, SpaceX and xAI plan to address the increasing demand for artificial intelligence while minimizing the environmental impact associated with traditional data centers.
Scaling AI Infrastructure Through Solar Power
According to the announcement, the partnership seeks to enhance artificial intelligence by relocating computational infrastructure into orbit. Current AI advancements depend heavily on extensive on-site data centers, which consume vast amounts of electricity and require significant cooling resources. Company leadership asserts that these demands cannot be met sustainably without burdening local communities and the environment.
The proposed long-term solution involves developing orbital data centers powered by nearly constant solar energy. This approach not only provides access to abundant power but also reduces operational and maintenance costs. The vision includes launching a constellation of up to one million satellites designed to serve as these orbital data centers, greatly increasing global AI computing capacity.
The announcement emphasized the role of SpaceX’s next-generation launch vehicle, Starship, in realizing this ambitious strategy. In 2025, the global count of orbital launches reached a record high, with approximately 3,000 tons of payload sent into space. However, fulfilling the demands of space-based data centers will require even greater lifting capacity.
Future Prospects and Sustainability Initiatives
Starship is set to deploy more advanced Starlink satellites, including higher-capacity V3 models and next-generation direct-to-mobile satellites for worldwide cellular coverage. SpaceX projects that launching one million tons of satellites each year, with each unit generating 100 kilowatts of computing power, could yield an additional 100 gigawatts of AI computing capacity annually.
Leadership from both companies highlighted a potential pathway to enhance capacity even further, with plans for future launches from lunar manufacturing facilities. These efforts could include in-space propellant transfer to facilitate significant cargo landings on the Moon and the establishment of manufacturing sites to produce satellites using lunar resources.
In addition to AI infrastructure, the overarching goal remains to support self-sustaining bases on the Moon, cultivate a civilization on Mars, and enable deeper exploration of the solar system. The companies plan to build upon existing sustainability practices for satellites, including end-of-life disposal strategies already implemented in SpaceX’s broadband systems.
SpaceX leadership framed the acquisition of xAI as a critical element of a larger mission to expand human knowledge and consciousness beyond Earth. This integration is positioned as a pivotal step toward achieving those long-term objectives.
