SpaceX to exclusively adopt NVIDIA's AI computing architecture and deploy space-based data centers for distributed AI compute infrastructure.
During SpaceX's first quarterly earnings call following its IPO on August 4, CEO Elon Musk announced that the company has decided to exclusively adopt NVIDIA technology for its AI computing infrastructure. SpaceX considers NVIDIA's Vera Rubin architecture "the best AI computer available today" and plans to begin launching Starmind satellites equipped with NVIDIA's Vera Rubin NVL72 rack-scale systems next year, extending AI computing capabilities into low Earth orbit.
"We have established a close collaboration and partnership with NVIDIA across multiple dimensions, and we have chosen to use NVIDIA exclusively," Musk stated. The announcement boosted NVIDIA's after-hours share price by more than 2 percent, and Musk made clear that all future AI data centers built by SpaceX will exclusively use NVIDIA systems.
On the same day, the two companies announced they would jointly develop the computing payload for the Starmind AI1 satellite—a spacecraft specifically designed to perform AI computing tasks in low Earth orbit—equipped with NVIDIA's Vera CPU and Rubin GPU. Musk noted that the NVL72 system's design offers advantages over traditional standard rack-based architectures, and SpaceX plans to deploy the system both on the ground and in orbit simultaneously.
SpaceX's vision for orbital computing extends far beyond this initial deployment. The company envisions ultimately building an orbital network of up to one million satellites interconnected via laser links to enable high-speed data transfer between spacecraft, forming a distributed space-based AI supercomputer. This partnership also marks SpaceX's official entry into NVIDIA's space computing ecosystem; when NVIDIA launched its space computing platform in March, SpaceX was not among the six launch partners initially announced.
Musk set an aggressive expansion target for computing capacity, stating that SpaceX expects its online capacity to exceed 2 gigawatts by year-end and approach 10 gigawatts—rather than the previously anticipated 5 gigawatts—by the end of next year. When Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas pressed him on the pace of deployment, Musk indicated that the company's actual target now exceeds what had been previously disclosed. "We aim to cumulatively reach 20 gigawatts through a series of projects by the end of next year," he said.
Musk also noted that current resource allocation is prioritizing power and cooling infrastructure over GPUs themselves. He acknowledged that some projects may not be completed entirely on schedule but expects approximately 15 gigawatts of online computing capacity to be operational by the end of 2027.
Orbital data centers represent one potential alternative to large terrestrial facilities. Compared with ground-based deployments, space-based systems require no land use and face relatively less thermal dissipation pressure; however, launching servers into orbit and establishing network connectivity present significant engineering challenges.