While most are fighting for 8–12 month build times, SpaceX has cut them in half. MiniHard finished construction in ~5 months, and the new Gun Range plot just south of the state line will take ~4.
How Are They Building So Fast?
One thing often overlooked is that the Elon companies are some of the best hardware companies in the world. We mentioned in our previous newsletter that their labor can run at 3k workers per GW thanks to their top-tier engineers. However, we also believe that Tesla is manufacturing modular MEP equipment, allowing SpaceX to deploy so rapidly.
If SpaceX and Tesla can manage their global supply chains appropriately, their partnership can easily construct GWs with far fewer constraints than others. This is like Crusoe manufacturing their own Switchgear to skip lead times , but on a massive scale. Tesla will likely become more than a BESS merchant to SpaceX soon.
And. Loads of megapacks. About 1000 Megapacks, 250 Megablocks per gigawatt.
SpaceX might need 20,000 Megapacks per year for 20 Gigawatts of AI Data Center.
While most are fighting for 8–12 month build times, SpaceX has cut them in half. MiniHard finished construction in ~5 months, and the new Gun Range plot just south of the state line will take ~4. Colossus 1’s first retrofit took 122 days for 150MW, Colossus 2 took 91 days for 210MW, and Project SPAM started October 5 targeting first tranches in December. (2/5)
— SemiAnalysis (@SemiAnalysis_) November 14, 2026
SpaceX built the largest BESS field in the USA for a reason. There are 1,377 Megapacks across Colossus 2, nearly 6GWh. Gas and BESS can be orchestrated to raise baseload while the turbines cycle through charging them, and with a ~1.10–1.15 PUE, the site may still cover a ~300MW shortfall.
There will be 4 times as many Megapacks for the proposed Arizona Data center.
SpaceX will have the most ai data centers by the end of 2027 according to Semianalysis
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
Known for identifying cutting edge technologies, he is currently a Co-Founder of a startup and fundraiser for high potential early-stage companies. He is the Head of Research for Allocations for deep technology investments and an Angel Investor at Space Angels.
A frequent speaker at corporations, he has been a TEDx speaker, a Singularity University speaker and guest at numerous interviews for radio and podcasts. He is open to public speaking and advising engagements.
