SpaceX Files Permits for 10‑Gigawatt Solar Factory Near Austin
The planned plant would supply near‑continuous solar power to satellites, enabling orbital AI computing if regulators, financing and construction all move forward.
Overview
- Bloomberg‑reported permit documents filed with Bastrop County show SpaceX intends a 10 gigawatt‑per‑year solar cell factory split across two production floors of about 5 GW each.
- SpaceX’s recent S‑1 for a Nasdaq listing links the Bastrop expansion and scaled solar manufacturing to the company’s broader capital and growth plans.
- The 10 GW figure comes from permit paperwork and does not prove an operational production line, with financing, build schedule, production yield and FCC approvals still unresolved.
- SpaceX already operates a large Starlink production hub in Bastrop that employs more than 1,000 people, and local reporting notes significant construction activity and a site footprint that could exceed one million square feet.
- If built at scale, the factory would make SpaceX a major U.S. solar‑cell maker and could enable continuous solar power for space‑based AI centers, while also creating new local jobs and raising questions about demand, regulation and technical feasibility.