NextBigFuture reports SpaceX built its MiniHard data center in about four to five months, roughly halving the typical 8 to 12 month build times, with a new Gun Range plot also mentioned.
While most are fighting for 8–12 month build times, SpaceX has cut them in half. MiniHard finished construction in about five months, and the new Gun Range plot just south of the state line will take about four.
**How Are They Building So Fast?**
One factor is often overlooked: the Elon companies are among the best hardware companies in the world. We mentioned in our previous newsletter that their labor can run at 3k workers per GW thanks to their top-tier engineers. We also believe Tesla is manufacturing modular MEP equipment, which allows SpaceX to deploy so rapidly.
If SpaceX and Tesla can manage their global supply chains appropriately, their partnership can construct gigawatts with far fewer constraints than others. This is like Crusoe manufacturing its own switchgear to skip lead times, but on a massive scale. Tesla will likely become more than a BESS merchant to SpaceX soon.
The projects also require a large number of Megapacks: about 1,000 Megapacks, or 250 Megablocks, per gigawatt. SpaceX might need 20,000 Megapacks per year to support 20 gigawatts of AI data center capacity.
> While most are fighting for 8–12 month build times, SpaceX has cut them in half. MiniHard finished construction in ~5 months, and the new Gun Range plot just south of the state line will take ~4. Colossus 1's first retrofit took 122 days for 150MW, Colossus 2 took 91 days for 210MW, and Project SPAM started October 5 targeting first tranches in December. (2/5)
>
> — SemiAnalysis (@SemiAnalysis_), November 14, 2026
SpaceX built the largest BESS field in the USA for a reason. There are 1,377 Megapacks across Colossus 2, totaling nearly 6 GWh. Gas and BESS can be orchestrated to raise baseload while the turbines cycle through charging them. With a PUE of roughly 1.10–1.15, the site may still cover a shortfall of about 300MW.
The proposed Arizona data center will have four times as many Megapacks.
SpaceX will have the most AI data centers by the end of 2027, according to SemiAnalysis.