Musk makes another big move: SpaceX applies to launch 100,000 satellites to pave a "space highway" for AI. SpaceX officially submitted an application to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), requesting approval to launch and operate a third-generation satellite constellation composed of 100,000 satellites.

Musk makes another big splash: SpaceX applies to launch 100,000 satellites to pave a "space highway" for AI. SpaceX officially submitted an application to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), requesting approval to launch and operate a third-generation satellite constellation composed of 100,000 satellites. This system is described by SpaceX as "a powerful, resilient, ubiquitous communications infrastructure" that has the ability to carry most of the world's Internet traffic, and is aimed at the global communications base in the AI ​​era. The scale of the third-generation constellation is nearly 10 times larger than the second-generation Starlink constellation, which has been authorized for about 12,000 satellites and currently has more than 7,000 satellites in orbit. This means that SpaceX is leaping from a satellite Internet service provider that "connects remote areas and flight Wi-Fi" to an underlying infrastructure giant carrying global Internet traffic. Two sets of orbital shells + new frequency bands, capacity aimed at billions of devices. According to the application documents, the third-generation constellation will be deployed in two sets of closely stacked orbital shells, with altitudes of 323 to 327.5 kilometers and 473 to 477.5 kilometers respectively. The orbital inclination angle covers 26 degrees to 96.9 degrees, the latter is close to the sun-synchronous orbit, and the orbit design can be flexibly adjusted according to coverage needs, polar regions and different market traffic distribution. In terms of frequency resources, SpaceX has further applied to expand the undeveloped W-band and D-band between 92GHz and 275GHz based on the authorized Ku, Ka, V and E frequency bands. SpaceX explained in the document that providing capacity for billions of people and AI-driven devices around the world requires a significant expansion of backhaul capabilities, and the development of new frequency bands will provide key support for this. Space communication + ground AI, Musk wants to open up the closed-loop ecosystem. For SpaceX, the application for the third-generation constellation is not only an upgrade of communication infrastructure, but also provides strategic support for its AI business. The company previously acquired Anysphere, the developer of AI programming application Cursor, for US$60 billion. Its Grok large model is rapidly iterating. A space-based network composed of 100,000 satellites will provide global low-latency data transmission channels for these AI services. As a result, the closed-loop ecological outline of "space communication + ground AI" has gradually become clear: the satellite network is responsible for global data transmission, and AI models such as Grok are responsible for data processing and interaction. The two ends collaborate to form a competitive barrier that is difficult for others to copy. Of course, the FCC's approval progress will be the key to determining whether this ambitious plan can be implemented. However, SpaceX’s starship launch capabilities are maturing rapidly. If the application is approved, its annual launch capacity of thousands of satellites will provide practical engineering feasibility for the deployment of third-generation constellations. vi