Overview
- Multiple outlets report that SpaceX has been scouting several Texas sites and has moved some data‑center staff to the state as it prepares at least one ground facility targeting about 1 gigawatt of compute capacity.
- SpaceX and xAI are already building an 11‑million‑square‑foot Gigasat factory in Bastrop to manufacture AI satellites, with a company-stated production goal of roughly 1 gigawatt per year of orbital compute by the end of 2027.
- The terrestrial expansion complements reported commercial deals with Anthropic and Google that aim to monetize SpaceX’s growing compute footprint and to supply external AI labs with GPU capacity.
- Major uncertainties remain because the plan depends on achieving a high Starship launch cadence and solving engineering challenges such as cooling, radiation hardening and in‑orbit operations, plus required FCC and other approvals.
- The effort follows SpaceX’s February acquisition of xAI and the Terafab chip initiative, reflecting a vertically integrated strategy that could reshape compute supply chains but will test local power grids, hiring and investor expectations.