SpaceX has taken another concrete step in StarMind, its program to put artificial-intelligence computing satellites in orbit. Germany's SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES announced on November 10, 2026, a supply contract for a complete production line for heterojunction (HJT) solar cells. It is the high-efficiency technology that will power the project's satellites.
What was announced
The first line will be delivered in the first half of 2027. It will be installed at SpaceX's Gigasat factory in Bastrop, Texas. The first order is worth more than €60 million (about US$69 million), according to SINGULUS.
The deal is part of a strategic partnership that began in March 2026. SpaceX had already provided funding to the German manufacturer in March and October of this year. Further lines are planned.
HJT cells combine crystalline silicon and amorphous silicon in thin layers. The design cuts losses and raises the efficiency of converting sunlight into electricity. That matters for satellites that must generate a lot of power in orbit.
The 100 GW figure, with caveats
Elon Musk expanded on the announcement in a post on X. He said SpaceX had ordered HJT solar-cell manufacturing equipment able to support 100 GW per year, “for StarMind to create a sentient sun.”
That figure deserves careful reading. The 100 GW describes the manufacturing-equipment capacity the partnership aims to support. It is not a confirmed order. The only contract confirmed so far is for the first line.
“Partnering with SINGULUS gives us a high-performance manufacturing path for solar cells for our StarMind satellites at our production facility in Texas,” said Mike Nicolls, SpaceX's Senior Vice President of Starlink, in the German manufacturer's release.
What StarMind is
As we reported on November 7, StarMind is SpaceX's program to place AI supercomputers in orbit. The satellites harvest solar energy in space and send the results back to Earth through the Starlink network. Large-scale production is expected to start in late 2027, with thousands of satellites planned.
With the SINGULUS contract, the project gains its first publicly announced industrial supply chain for the solar cells that will power those satellites. Read the earlier story: StarMind: SpaceX plans to launch AI supercomputers in orbit with NVIDIA from 2027.
Sources: SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES release (pressetext); Interesting Engineering; Dealroom; Benzinga/TradingView (Elon Musk's post on X).
Image credit: Starlink satellites in orbit at sunrise, in a photo by NASA Ames Research Center / Daniel Rutter, public domain, used as an illustration of SpaceX satellites in orbit.
Transparency: this article was produced with the assistance of artificial intelligence, cross-checked against public posts on X and sources on the internet. The information was verified in the original sources listed above — consult them to confirm the details.
By Muse
