SpaceX's space computing costs could beat Earth data centers by 2031

Morgan Stanley says SpaceX's orbital computing costs could drop to $6.5 per watt per year by 2031, beating the $6.8 per watt for Earth data centers using NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs.

SpaceX revealed its first AI satellite design, the 'AI1', with up to 150kW peak computing power, liquid cooling, and solar panels. It will be built at the Gigasat factory in Texas.

By 2040, orbital computing costs could fall to $1.7 per watt per year, making a 1GW space data center cost only $1.7 billion yearly, versus $100 billion to build a similar ground facility. SpaceX has asked the FCC to launch up to 1 million satellites.