Former NASA official calls out Elon Musk over 'ridiculous' plan for data centers in space: 'Risk of collisions and debris'

A former NASA official is warning that Elon Musk's push to put AI data centers in orbit is too costly, too polluting, and nowhere near ready for reality, according to Futurism.

What's happening?

SpaceX, which now operates under the same corporate umbrella as Musk's AI venture xAI, submitted a filing to the Federal Communications Commission of a satellite constellation of up to one million units built to function as orbital data centers. They would fly from 310 to 1,200 miles above the planet, angled to soak up as much solar energy as possible.

Musk has said these systems could undercut ground-based data centers on price in under three years.

Rebekah Reed, a one-time associate director at NASA who now works at Harvard, pushed back on that claim in a Financial Times essay. She noted that OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman has called the idea "ridiculous."

"Orbital data centers are many years, perhaps decades, away," Reed wrote.

Why are orbital data centers concerning?

Cost is a major barrier. Reed wrote that the idea only pencils out if it costs less than $200 to send a kilogram (2.2 pounds) into orbit, about seven times lower than today's rates. She doesn't see those numbers becoming real before the mid-2030s.

The environmental math doesn't add up either. A team at Saarland University in Germany calculated that space-based data centers could carry a larger carbon impact than ground-based ones after accounting for the building, flying, and scrapping of all that hardware.

AI already puts serious strain on the power grid here on Earth, pushing up electricity bills for everyday people and testing the limits of local infrastructure. The technology can help manage renewable energy systems more effectively, but right now, its hunger for electricity is outpacing those gains. Moving that demand into orbit doesn't solve the core problem; it adds new ones.

Reed warned that packing orbit with thousands of additional satellites creates the "risk of collisions and debris, threatening communications, weather and navigation services."

What's being done about orbital data centers?

Pushback is building from inside the AI industry itself. Altman's blunt dismissal shows not every tech leader is on board with Musk's timeline or vision.

Reed's essay is part of a growing public conversation about holding tech companies accountable for their environmental impact. If you want to weigh in, reach out to your representatives and let them know you support tighter rules on how the tech industry consumes energy, on Earth and above it.

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