SpaceX unveils $100B Louisiana spaceport, targets 175 kW NVIDIA AI system for orbit in 2027

Vera Rubin image from NVIDIA Over the past several months, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has been vocal about deploying AI data centers in space. In February, he predicted that within five years, SpaceX would launch more AI in space annually than the total on Earth. Now, SpaceX has announced a $100 billion Louisiana spaceport to support thousands of launches annually. Meanwhile, Musk set a fourth-quarter 2027 target for the first Starmind AI1 satellite, carrying an optimized NVIDIA Vera Rubin NVL72 system rated for 175 kW of average compute and up to 250 kW at peak. NVIDIA confirmed Vera Rubin chips entered full production in 2026, with volume expected in the second half of that year. Musk wrote that SpaceX’s design is simpler, lower-cost, denser, and lighter than traditional racks. The Q4 2027 target exceeds earlier projections, including SpaceX’s May 2020 S-1 filing, which described the orbital data-center program as relying on unproven technologies and projected deployment as early as 2028. The filing also classified SpaceX under SIC code 7370, focusing on computing rather than aerospace. Construction of the Louisiana spaceport is expected to begin in 2027, with the first launch targeted for 2029. Early Starmind missions will use existing SpaceX infrastructure, with Louisiana providing long-term capacity. The FCC accepted SpaceX’s application for a constellation of up to one million orbital data-center satellites, though the American Astronomical Society and Amazon’s Leo unit petitioned to deny it due to interference and collision risks. If successful, this move could position SpaceX as a vertically integrated computing company, beyond its current Starlink business.