Michael Nicolls
Michael Nicolls is a SpaceXSpaceXSpaceX is a company founded by Elon Musk in 2002 whose businesses include space transportation, Starlink satellite communications and artificial intelligence. It went public in 2026 under the ticker SPCX.Open the full entry executive responsible for Starlink, leading the development and operation of the Starlink broadband and Direct-to-Cell systems; according to media reports, he has also served as president of xAI since April 2026.
Contents7 sections
Key facts
August 2025Unveiling the Starlink Mini Laser
In August 2025, as SpaceX’s vice president of Starlink engineering, he posted a video on X introducing Starlink’s “mini laser” terminal; according to him, the device is designed to reach link speeds of 25 Gbps over distances of up to about 4,000 km and is intended to connect third-party satellites and space stations to the Starlink constellation.[1][2]
March 2, 2026Appearing in an MWC Barcelona Keynote
MWC Barcelona’s speaker page lists him as SpaceX’s senior vice president for Starlink and links him to the March 2, 2026 keynote session “Keynote 2: Transforming Tomorrow’s Connected World.”[3]
April 2026Becoming President of xAI
According to a report republished by 36Kr and an AI Weekly summary of Bloomberg reporting, he took over as president of xAI in April 2026, with most of xAI’s engineering organization reporting to him; the reports cite an internal memo of his saying xAI’s near-term goal was to catch up with competitors.[4][5]
October 2026Discussing Starlink’s Expansion at the International Astronautical Congress
In October 2026, at the International Astronautical Congress in Antalya, Turkey, he said SpaceX plans first to connect the Moon with a Starlink satellite constellation and to extend further into the solar system with high-speed laser links.[2]
Career and Education
According to the U.S. Office of Space Commerce, he earned B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from Cornell UniversityCornell UniversityCornell University is a private research university in Ithaca, New York, and a member of the Ivy League. It is New York State's federal land-grant university, a distinction unique within the Ivy League. Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White founded the university in 1865, and it opened in 1868. In addition to its Ithaca campus, Cornell operates Weill Cornell Medicine and Cornell Tech in New York City and a medical college in Qatar. It enrolled 26,793 students in fall 2024. Its president is Michael I. Kotlikoff.Open the full entry and has worked in the space industry for more than 20 years; earlier he was a research engineer at SRI International’s Center for Geospace Studies, working on remote sensing of the upper atmosphere and ionosphere, radars, CubeSats and sounding rockets.[6]
He later co-founded LeoLabs and served as its chief technical officer, overseeing the development of radar systems, tracking technologies and a data platform for space safety; at SpaceX he leads the team behind the Starlink broadband and Direct-to-Cell systems, covering satellites, user terminals, ground technology, network software and constellation operations. He also serves as SpaceX’s representative member on the office’s Advisory Committee on Excellence in Space (ACES).[6]
Related Organizations, Websites, and Public Accounts
SpaceX: Official website: https://www.spacex.com/ (opens in a new window)[6]
LeoLabs: Official website: https://www.leolabs.space/ (opens in a new window)[6]
X: Public account: https://x.com/michaelnicollsx (opens in a new window)[2]
Sources
- SpaceX desarrolla un láser para conectar satélites Starlink con satélites de terceros (opens in a new window)
- Elon Musk veut relier Mars à Jupiter mais aussi tout le système solaire avec Starlink (opens in a new window)
- Michael Nicolls (opens in a new window)
- 马斯克重建xAI组织图曝光，12名旧臣空降，三线大换血 (opens in a new window)
- Starlink veteran Nicolls takes over xAI to chase Claude parity (opens in a new window)
- Michael Nicolls – Office of Space Commerce (opens in a new window)