Former NASA official criticises Elon Musk’s plan for space-based AI data centers

A former NASA official has criticised Elon Musk’s proposal to deploy artificial intelligence (AI) data centres in space, warning that the concept is far too expensive, environmentally harmful, and technologically premature.

According to Futurism, SpaceX — which operates under the same corporate umbrella as Musk’s AI company xAI — recently filed plans with the Federal Communications Commission to launch a massive satellite constellation. 

The proposal envisions as many as one million satellites functioning as orbital data centers, positioned between 310 and 1,200 miles above Earth and designed to capture solar energy to power AI operations.

Musk has suggested that these space-based systems could become cheaper than traditional data centres on Earth within three years.

However, Rebekah Reed, a former associate director at NASA who is now affiliated with Harvard University, strongly disputes that claim. 

In an essay for the Financial Times, Reed argued that orbital data centres remain decades away from practical implementation. 

She also pointed out that OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman has previously described the concept as “ridiculous.”

Reed said the biggest challenge is cost. For the idea to become viable, the price of launching payloads into orbit would need to drop below $200 per kilogram — roughly seven times cheaper than current launch costs. She believes such reductions are unlikely before the mid-2030s.

Environmental concerns also loom large. Researchers at Saarland University in Germany found that the manufacturing, launching, and eventual disposal of space hardware could result in a greater carbon footprint than Earth-based data centers.

Reed also warned that deploying thousands of additional satellites could increase the risk of orbital collisions and space debris, potentially disrupting communication, weather forecasting, and navigation systems.