SpaceX’s AI-satellite megaconstellation could spawn a space e-waste challenge

Ars Technica analyzes SpaceX’s plan for a million AI data-center satellites, estimating that thousands could be decommissioned annually and some reenter or be moved to disposal orbits, effectively exporting significant Earth-sourced materials into space (around 1,000 tons of copper and other metals per year). This would create a new category of e-waste in orbit with environmental, regulatory, and resource lifecycle implications, prompting questions about space mining, lunar manufacturing, and how to manage the material fate of such mega-constellations.