How data centers in space could become a reality
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
Building data centers in space is more complicated than proponents might portray, but experts say it's increasingly doable.
Why it matters: With data center protests growing on earth, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and others have been eyeing the vastness of outer space as the next frontier.
The big picture: Work is already under way from startups Starcloud and Cowboy Space Corp. as well as big tech companies including SpaceX and Google.
Zoom in: SpaceX has already filed an application with the FCC to launch a million satellites.
- The prospectus outlines plans to launch a test of its orbital data centers by 2028, however Reuters reported the company has been telling investors during its roadshow that it actually hopes to do so by the end of 2027
- Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin has also filed for permission to launch data centers in space. As part of its Project Sunrise, Blue Origin has sought to launch more than 50,000 satellites — far less than SpaceX — but still an enormous effort.
Zoom out: In a new report this week, real estate research firm JLL says it sees space as particularly suited to energy intensive, but less urgent tasks.
- Data centers on earth could remain the place for computing work that needs to happen in real time.
- Training AI models in space, for example, could make more sense than handling queries.
- Space data centers are "the result of two powerful forces: Terrestrial constraints pushing compute beyond Earth's atmosphere, and orbital economics pulling it upward," JLL said in its report
Between the lines: A number of factors make space attractive, from its ready supply of unimpeded solar energy to its vast expanse.
- "Continuous exposure to solar radiation in low Earth orbit offers the potential for abundant, predictable power generation without grid interconnection, backup generation, or terrestrial permitting constraints," JLL said.
- While the size of what could be sent into space was historically limited by the size of the spaceship carrying the cargo into orbit, new approaches could make creating larger buildings in space more practical.
- Rendezvous Robotics, a spin-out from the Aurelia Institute, has demonstrated how self-assembling magnetic tiles could be used to build sizable structures, such as data centers.
Yes, but: Other factors make building and operating data centers outside the earth's atmosphere extremely difficult, including the cost of launching equipment and the challenge of maintaining and upgrading systems.
- Even cooling is much harder in space than many people assume. Because there is no air in space, hot electronics can't shed heat through convection, as they do on Earth. Instead, orbital data centers need massive radiators to emit heat away.
- "Space is not cold in the way that the common conception thinks it is," Rendezvous Robotics co-founder Ariel Ekblaw said at last week's Axios AI+ Summit in New York. "You essentially have these little volcanoes of servers. It's really hard to get the heat off."
- Another key will be getting the cost of launching cargo into space more affordable. Costs have come down, but need to fall further for wide-scale orbital operations to make financial sense.
Reality check: Ekblaw said the first versions are likely to be modest experiments rather than giant orbital server farms.
- "In five years, I wouldn't expect to see an AI data center the size of a football field," she said. "But you'll probably see a distributed AI data center on Starlink."
- "Maybe within 10 years, you will begin to see installations that are purpose-built," she said.
- Bezos has said that he envisions gigawatt-scale data centers in space within 10-20 years.
What we're watching: Whether launch costs fall as much as projected, if Google's prototypes work and whether SpaceX can turn its plan from theory into reality.
