The race to build data centers is reshaping power grids, construction markets and corporate capital spending on Earth. Now, some of the biggest names in technology and space want to move part of that infrastructure into orbit.
This would launch a new frontier for insurers — if they can figure out how to price a risk that has never existed at scale.
SpaceX has laid out the most aggressive vision. In January, the company filed with the Federal Communications Commission for a constellation of up to 1 million satellites that could form an orbital artificial intelligence data center. CEO Elon Musk has argued that solar-powered computing in space could become cheaper than terrestrial data centers within two to three years as launch costs fall and the cost of adding power on Earth rises.
Jeff Bezos is also betting on orbital computing, though on a longer timeline. His space tech company Blue Origin filed plans in March for 51,600 data-center satellites in low Earth orbit. Bezos told CNBC in May that data centers in space are “very realistic,” but called a two- to three-year timeline “a little ambitious.” Google is exploring Project Suncatcher, an interconnected network of solar-powered satellites using its AI chips, while startup Starcloud has already flown an Nvidia H100 GPU in orbit.
