Link: https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/08/theres-a-huge-launch-crunch-right-now-and-it-will-probably-get-worse/

Myriad factors are driving this crunch, but the principal concern of late has been SpaceX.

The company that is almost exclusively responsible for the dramatic increase in launch availability in the 2020s has signaled that it intends to wind down Falcon 9 operations as quickly as possible in favor of the larger Starship rocket. Some might see that as a good thing due to Starship’s enormous payload capacity. But there are growing concerns that SpaceX will largely focus on its own payloads—Starlink v3 satellites and orbital data centers—because of their potential to drive far greater profits. The Starship rocket’s PEZ satellite dispenser, optimized for Starlink, is an indication of the company’s priorities.

Orbital data centers are still dumb as shit.

Hard to cool. Hard to power (solar is insufficient for much). And I dunno if Musk has ever worked with a datacenter before but you need to do regular maintenance on them because shit breaks - which would be pretty hard in space.

Advantages: I dunno, security? Don't have to abide any laws?

Wait.. is this all because he wants to continue making xAI childporn in space?

People taking advantage of their monopoly to benefit themselves? Inconceivable!

relevant: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kessler_syndrome