Musk announces acceleration! Equipped with Nvidia chips, SpaceX plans to launch space data center satellites next year.

According to media reports, on August 24 local time, Musk stated on social platforms that SpaceX's first batch of AI satellites equipped with Nvidia chips will launch in the fourth quarter of next year, with large-scale deployment expected by 2028.

Notably, this is at least one year ahead of the timeline disclosed in the previous prospectus, marking an acceleration in the transition of space data centers from concept to reality.

Musk said SpaceX has partnered with Nvidia to design a Vera Rubin NVL72 system optimized for the space environment.

He stated that each satellite-based orbital data center will be simpler, cheaper, denser, and lighter than traditional computer racks.

Meanwhile, Musk revealed to investors earlier this month that SpaceX will receive a "fairly significant portion" of Nvidia's GPU supply in 2027.

If the launch succeeds, it could not only open a new market for Nvidia's processors but also provide SpaceX with a new potential growth source following its record-breaking IPO in June this year.

SpaceX has already positioned space computing as a key business direction to promote to investors.

The company believes that, in the long run, processing AI workloads in orbit could be cheaper than operating energy-intensive data centers on Earth, while also potentially having a smaller environmental impact.

SpaceX has applied to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for permission to deploy a constellation of up to one million satellites, which would have the capability to handle complex AI computing tasks.

Earlier this month, SpaceX announced it had selected Nvidia as the exclusive technology supplier for this orbital infrastructure project.

Musk had previously considered multiple design options using different chips but ultimately concluded that Nvidia's system was the best choice.

Nvidia stated that SpaceX will adopt its Vera central processor to accelerate computing tasks behind Grok and the next generation of AI agents.