FCC Filings Name Two 100,000-Satellite Constellations

SpaceX and Orbital Compute have put separate 100,000-satellite plans before the FCC, turning satellite broadband and orbital data-centre capacity into the same regulatory queue.

The filings show one plan built around Starlink Gen 3 communications satellites and another around space-based compute for AI workloads.

SpaceX filed its Gen 3 Starlink application on Monday.

The company said the new system would add larger satellites above its current Starlink network and separate orbital data-centre ambitions, including an earlier plan for up to 1 million data-centre satellites.

Orbital Compute filed its application in June.

The Los Angeles startup said its proposed constellation would support AI applications by placing data-centre hardware in orbit rather than drawing on terrestrial electricity, land or water.

SpaceX Gen 3 Satellites Target Very-Low-Earth Orbit

SpaceX said the Gen 3 system would use satellites between 323 kilometres and 477 kilometres above Earth.

The company described the layer as very-low-Earth orbit and said the network would use Ku-, Ka-, V- and E-band spectrum, with anticipated use of W-band and D-band frequencies.

The company said Gen 3 would provide low-latency, multi-gigabit satellite broadband for consumers, businesses and government users.

SpaceX also said the constellation could connect "billions of AI-powered devices around the world" and serve as communications infrastructure for what it called the AI age.

SpaceX said each Gen 3 satellite would weigh about 2,000 kilograms and support downstream speeds around 1 Tbit/s.

Elon Musk wrote on X that the plan would need Starship, the company's heavy-lift rocket, to deploy the larger satellites.

Orbital Compute Says Its Plan Could Reach 10 Gigawatts

Orbital Compute said the filing also sets a path to about 10 gigawatts of orbital computing power.

The company compared that figure with roughly 8.5 gigawatts of new U.S. grid capacity added over the past year.

The startup said each satellite would operate as a high-density rack backed by 100 kilowatts from its own solar arrays.

Orbital Compute said each unit would span about 100 meters, weigh roughly two tons and use radiators to move heat into space.

Orbital Compute said it plans to launch a single Nvidia GPU payload on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in 2027, followed by Orbital-1, its first data-centre satellite, sometime in 2028.

Founder and chief executive Euwyn Poon said in April that the company was close to opening an R&D manufacturing site in Los Angeles.

Poon also said orbital data centres could address power and cooling limits facing terrestrial facilities.

Commercial Proof Still Depends On FCC Action And Capital

Orbital Compute said funding for its 2027 test is largely coming from a16z speedrun, an Andreessen Horowitz programme that says it has allocated more than $180 million to more than 150 startups.

The company expects each satellite to cost about $5 million including GPUs.

The filings leave major deployment evidence outside the public record.

The FCC has not approved the constellations, Orbital Compute has not announced additional capital partners, and neither plan names confirmed customers, launch cadence, service pricing or a final commercial timetable for a 100,000-satellite buildout.