SpaceX executives have told investors the company aims to launch initial demonstrations of space-based artificial intelligence computing infrastructure by late 2027, moving ahead of the "as early as 2028" deployment timeline disclosed in its IPO filing, according to two people who attended pre-IPO investor presentations.

SpaceX Moves Up AI Compute Timeline

During two investor presentations before the offering, both featuring SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell and Chief Financial Officer Bret Johnsen, executives outlined a roadmap to begin demonstrating orbital-compute capabilities in 2027, Reuters reported on Tuesday. Both sources attended a Goldman Sachs meeting, and one attended another presentation.

The orbital-compute project is central to SpaceX's long-term pitch as it seeks to raise $75 billion in a record initial public offering. In its IPO documents, SpaceX says it is "the only company with a commercially viable path to building orbital AI compute at scale."

The IPO filing said orbital data-center deployments could begin as early as 2028, but did not distinguish between test missions and commercial deployments.

Read Also: Gene Munster Says SpaceX Has A 'Formidable' Rival In Google, But They Don't Make Rockets And Can't Put A Data Center In Space

Demonstrator Systems Would Test Technology First

The company has requested regulatory permission to launch up to 1 million space-based data-center satellites.

Shotwell and Johnsen described the early launches as demonstrator systems meant to validate the technology before any broader rollout, the sources said. One source said the filing's 2028 language appeared to give management room for possible delays in Starship development or satellite manufacturing.

Starship is central to the plan. The fully reusable rocket is designed to carry the mass needed for large-scale orbital computing, but it remains years behind Elon Musk's earlier targets and has not yet demonstrated the rapid reusability needed to make the project economical.

Starlink Technology Could Support AI Satellites

Musk said in a video released on Monday that building orbital AI data centers is not especially difficult because SpaceX can use technology developed for Starlink. He said the first AI satellite would likely use Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) chips and have computing power comparable to an Nvidia GB300 rack.

SpaceX shares are scheduled to begin trading on Friday on the Nasdaq under the ticker SPCX. The IPO price is targeted at $135 a share, implying a valuation of about $1.75 trillion. Demand for the offering has been intense.

Read Also: SpaceX Goes Public Soon: ETF Issuers Are Already Fighting Over The Booster Seat

Photo Courtesy: JOCA_PH on Shutterstock.com