SpaceX Builds Massive 10 GW Solar Cell Factory in Texas

On Thursday, May 21, 2026 (UTC), SpaceX began construction on one of the largest and most advanced solar cell manufacturing facilities in the United States. Located in Bastrop, Texas, the new industrial complex will have a nominal production capacity of 10 gigawatts annually, a volume designed to directly meet the growing energy demand of high-density artificial intelligence infrastructure.

According to exclusive reports from Bloomberg News, the new land-based factory will feature a two-story structure, each designed to house an autonomous 5-gigawatt production line. The planned 10-gigawatt capacity for the SpaceX unit will surpass the total photovoltaic panel manufacturing capacity across the US, currently estimated at about 60 gigawatts annually, marking the aerospace company's aggressive entry into the large-scale energy sector.

Vertical Integration and AI Data Center Supply

The initiative addresses the urgent need for a continuous electricity supply for frontier model processing servers. The company's founder, Elon Musk, recently warned that electrical power and grid transformers will be the primary physical bottlenecks for the evolution of computing data centers in the coming years. With domestic production of high-efficiency solar cells, the company seeks independence from the Asian supply chain, severely restricted by recent export barriers imposed by China.

The Bastrop complex, already serving as a logistical and operational hub for producing Starlink satellite network antennas, will enable the integration of new land-based solar cells with storage systems comprised of industrial Megapacks supplied by partner Tesla. Together, the two companies have set a medium-term goal to reach 200 gigawatts annually of combined photovoltaic capture and distribution equipment manufacturing.

Space Applications and Orbital Data Centers

In addition to powering the electrical network of land-based servers in Texas, the silicon cells produced at the factory will be optimized for tolerance to high levels of thermal radiation. This technical enhancement will enable the energy supply for future constellations of next-generation communication satellites and advanced orbital data processing center projects linked to the Starlink network.

Public zoning documents filed in Bastrop County indicate that the two-story facilities will occupy an initial covered area of 1.1 million square feet, with space reserved for future expansions. Infrastructure analysts from the Austin Business Journal predict that the first floor will be fully operational for machinery testing by the end of the first quarter of next year.