SemiAnalysis: SpaceX Greenfield Data Center Could Be Built in Five Months, New Target Compressed to Four
SemiAnalysis analysis suggests that SpaceX may be the world's fastest data center builder. The completed MiniHard project was built in approximately five months, and the new Gun Range site targets a timeline of about four months—far below the industry standard of eight to twelve months. This speed is driven by Tesla's modular mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) manufacturing, the repurposing of rocket launch sites and chip factory campuses, and a flexible power strategy combining energy storage with gas generation.
In a paid analysis released in November 2026, SemiAnalysis put forward a core judgment: SpaceX may be becoming the world's fastest data center builder, even outpacing its Chinese counterparts. This judgment is supported not by a single project, but by a set of cross-verified data points—the retrofit of Colossus 1 took 122 days to complete 150 MW, the retrofit of Colossus 2 was shortened to 91 days for 210 MW, and Project SPAM, which broke ground on October 5, 2026, targets bringing its first batch of computing power online in December, potentially breaking its own record again. Regarding greenfield projects, Memphis's MiniHard has already been completed in about five months, while the newly purchased "Gun Range" plot, located just south of the Tennessee state line, is expected to take only about four months. The industry typically considers an eight-to-twelve-month construction period as reasonable for greenfield data centers; SpaceX has compressed this by more than half.
Where does this speed come from? SemiAnalysis identifies three layers of mechanisms. The first is campus reuse. Starbase, SpaceX's rocket manufacturing and launch base in Texas, is traditionally used for spacecraft assembly and launch preparation. However, from clearing the ground at the end of August to entering full vertical construction by the end of September, the campus now simultaneously hosts two data centers, and SemiAnalysis judges their scale to possibly exceed one gigawatt. TeraFab—Elon Musk's planned 100-million-square-foot, 10+ GW chip factory project—actually initially started as a data center before pivoting to chip manufacturing. SemiAnalysis believes it is now likely rejoining data center functions, potentially offering capacity for third-party rental. The second layer is Tesla's modular MEP equipment manufacturing. SemiAnalysis believes Tesla is producing prefabricated MEP equipment for SpaceX, bypassing traditional supply chain delivery bottlenecks. This is analogous to Crusoe self-producing switchgear, but on a much larger scale. The third layer is the flexibility of the power strategy. Instead of waiting for traditional grid interconnection approvals, SpaceX uses a combination of truck-mounted gas turbines, large-scale energy storage, and later grid integration. SemiAnalysis tracks over 8 GW of behind-the-meter capacity, with Colossus 2 currently deploying an energy storage system nearing 6 GWh, which could become the largest single-site energy storage deployment in the United States.