SpaceX Vow To Loft 1 Million AI Satellites Could Spark Doomsday Dive

BusinessAerospace & DefenseSpaceX Vow To Loft 1 Million AI Satellites Could Spark Doomsday DiveByKevin Holden Platt,Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Kevin Holden Platt writes on space defense, SpaceX, ISS, Space War I Follow AuthorMay 31, 2026, 12:05am EDTElon Musk has vowed to begin launching one million AI data center satellites into orbit in 2028, via the still experimental Starship rocket, in a high-risk plan that could trigger a financial catastrophe, and send SpaceX into a high-speed nosedive. (Photo by SERGIO FLORES/AFP via Getty Images)AFP via Getty ImagesElon Musk’s plan to begin launching one million AI data center satellites into orbit in 2028 could trigger a financial catastrophe, sending SpaceX into a high-speed nosedive, say leading North American space scholars.In what could be viewed as a precursor project, SpaceX has already lofted 10,000 Starlink broadband-beaming satellites, with each spacecraft costing US$2 million to build and launch, says Robert Zubrin, one of the world’s top rocket designers. Using the same SpaceX spacecraft assembly and launch systems to lift one million AI satellites into low Earth orbit could cost roughly $2 trillion, or the entire projected valuation of the world-leading spacecraft outfit following its upcoming initial public offering (IPO) of shares.If SpaceX’s founder actually moves forward with his sci-fi-like masterplan to construct this mega-constellation for spacefaring AI agents, that could spark the lightning-speed halt of his long-running winning streak in business, Zubrin told me in an interview.Dr. Zubrin, who designed an early prototype of NASA’s Space Launch System Moon rocket, which just sent four Allied astronauts on a circumlunar space trek, says lofting satellites to host next-generation artificial intelligence models like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini would be astronomically more expensive than terrestrial data centers.MORE FOR YOUAerospace engin...