Making space travel as easy as taking a plane! SpaceX plans to build a global spaceport, aiming to launch thousands of times a year

Elon Musk Plans to Build Spaceports and Discusses Sending Data Centers into Orbit with Google. SpaceX is expected to go public in June, with a valuation of $1.75 trillion.

Space company SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced on the 13th that he plans to establish “spaceports” worldwide and that he is in talks with Google’s parent company Alphabet to collaborate on sending AI data centers into Earth’s orbit. These developments are paving the way for the company’s IPO, which launched in June this year with an estimated valuation of over $1.75 trillion.

Starship Rocket Aims for Thousands of Launches Annually, Single Base No Longer Sufficient

On Wednesday, SpaceX issued an official statement saying the company’s goal is to launch the Starship rocket “thousands of times” each year, admitting that current launch sites are completely incapable of handling such frequency. Musk wrote on X: “SpaceX is actively evaluating locations within the U.S. and abroad to build the ‘world’s most advanced spaceport.’”

Image source: X/@elonmusk

The reason Starship can achieve such a launch volume lies in its design. Unlike traditional single-use rockets, Starship paired with the Super Heavy booster can be quickly recovered and relaunched with minimal maintenance, and each launch can carry over 100 tons of payload.

Musk compares future spaceports to modern airports, with multiple daily flights and rapid mobilization, making interstellar travel as routine as catching a plane. Currently, Starship test flights are concentrated at the Starbase facility in Texas, while facilities in Florida are still expanding. SpaceX has also begun retrofitting two offshore oil platforms, Deimos and Phobos, as future maritime launch sites.

Google Partners with SpaceX, Space Data Center Business Emerges

Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal revealed that Google is in talks with SpaceX regarding rocket launch contracts aimed at deploying data center hardware into near-Earth orbit. This plan is part of Google’s “Project Suncatcher,” which aims to deploy AI cloud computing facilities on solar-powered satellites equipped with Google’s TPU chips, with the first prototype satellites scheduled for launch by 2027 in collaboration with Planet Labs.

Google is not the only tech giant interested in SpaceX. Just a week ago, AI company Anthropic signed an agreement to use all computing resources at its Colossus 1 data center in Memphis and explicitly expressed interest in orbital data centers.

Interestingly, SpaceX completed the acquisition of Musk’s AI company xAI in February this year, integrating it into its internal AI division to actively enter the computing power market. Reports indicate that SpaceX has also applied for regulatory approval to launch up to one million satellites to support the long-term operation of orbital data centers.

Are Space-Based Data Centers a Revolutionary Business Opportunity or an Unrealistic Dream?

TechCrunch analysis suggests that the concept of orbital data centers has a logical basis in business. Ground-based data centers face huge power consumption, land acquisition difficulties, and community opposition, whereas SpaceX claims that space-based computing costs could become lower than terrestrial facilities within the next few years.

However, challenges remain significant: hardware cooling, cosmic radiation, orbital maintenance, data transmission latency, and the currently high deployment costs are all hurdles that must be overcome to turn this blueprint into reality.

The Largest IPO in History Countdown: SpaceX’s Impact on the Secondary Market

SpaceX’s expansion into space business coincides with a critical period for its IPO ambitions. Sources say SpaceX plans to go public in June this year, with an estimated valuation of about $1.75 trillion and a fundraising target of $75 billion, potentially making it the largest IPO in history.

The 12th test flight of Starship is also scheduled for May 19, which will test the next-generation booster and engine systems for the first time, further verifying the feasibility of fully reusable commercial operations. This will serve as an initial proof of whether SpaceX’s space exploration blueprint can become a reality.

• This article is reprinted with permission from: 《Chain News》
• Original title: “Making Interstellar Travel as Routine as Flying! SpaceX Plans to Build Global Spaceports and Launch Thousands of Times Annually in Preparation for IPO”
• Original author: Crumax