Data center operators are exploring space-based power solutions to address the mounting electricity demands of AI infrastructure.

Tech firms are floating the idea of building data centers in space and tapping into the sun's energy to meet out-of-this-world power demands in a fierce artificial intelligence race. US startup Starcloud this week sent a refrigerator-sized satellite containing an Nvidia graphics processing unit (GPU) into orbit, which Starcloud's chief executive Philip Johnston touted at a recent tech conference in Riyadh. "The idea is that it will soon make much more sense to build data centers in space than it does to build them on Earth," Johnston said. Announcements have come thick and fast, with Google this week unveiling plans to launch test satellites by early 2027 as part of its Suncatcher project. Elon Musk claimed his SpaceX startup should be capable of deploying data centers in orbit next year thanks to its Starlink satellite program. Starcloud's satellite was taken into space by a SpaceX rocket on Sunday.

Current projects to put data centers into orbit envision relying on clusters of low Earth orbit satellites positioned close enough together to ensure reliable wireless connectivity, with lasers connecting space computers to terrestrial systems. Along with a constant supply of solar energy, data centers are easier to cool in space, advocates note. Krishna Muralidharan, a University of Arizona engineering professor involved with such work, said of the technology: "From a proof concept, it's already there." Muralidharan believes space data centers could be commercially viable in about a decade, though Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, the tech titan behind private space exploration company Blue Origin, has estimated it might take up to twice that long.

Critical technical aspects of such operations need to be resolved, particularly harm done to GPUs by high levels of radiation and extreme temperatures as well as the danger of being hit by space junk. Christopher Limbach, a University of Michigan assistant professor of engineering, said "Engineering work will be necessary," contending that it is a matter of cost rather than technical feasibility. The big draw of space for data centers is power supply, with the option of synchronizing satellites to the sun's orbit to ensure constant light on solar panels, particularly significant given that tech titans building AI data centers have an ever-growing need for electricity and have even invested in nuclear power plants.

Data centers in space also avoid the challenges of acquiring land and meeting local regulations or community resistance to projects. Advocates argue that data centers operating in space are less harmful overall to the environment, aside from the pollution generated by rocket launches, with water needed to cool a space data center being about the same amount used by a space station, relying on exhaust radiators and re-using a relatively small amount of liquid. An obstacle to deploying servers in space has been the cost of getting them into orbit, but a reusable SpaceX mega-rocket called Starship with massive payload potential promises to slash launch expenses by at least 30 times. Suncatcher project head Travis Beals said in a post that "Historically, high launch costs have been a primary barrier to large-scale space-based systems," adding that project launch pricing data suggests prices may fall by the mid-2030s to the point at which "operating a space-based data center could become comparable" to having it on Earth. "The real question is whether the idea is economically viable," said Limbach, while concluding: "If there ever was a time to chart new economic paths in space -- or re-invent old ones -- it is now."