Orbital Data Centers: Computing Beyond Earth
Emergent problem
By 2026, the rapid expansion of Artificial Intelligence has pushed earth-based data centers to their physical and environmental limits. Power demand is soaring, water-intensive cooling strains ecosystems, and land, grid, and regulatory constraints are tightening. This makes a once-speculative idea seem more viable: orbital data centers (placing computing infrastructure directly in space).
Why orbital data centres appeal
The appeal is powerful. In orbit, data centers can harness more available solar energy, delivering far greater efficiency than terrestrial solar systems. The vacuum of space enables passive radiative cooling, eliminating the massive water usage required on earth. With no land or grid limitations, orbital systems offer virtually unlimited scalability, while also enabling real-time edge computing for satellites, enhanced data security, and resilience from earth-based disasters or geopolitical risks. Using this option, optimistic projections suggest energy costs for AI workloads could fall by up to 95%, including launch expenses.
Explorers
Several pioneers are already testing this frontier. Starcloud (formerly Lumen Orbit), backed by NVIDIA, made history in late 2025 by operating an NVIDIA H100 GPU in orbit and running a large language model in space. Axiom Space is deploying Orbital Data Center nodes in low-Earth orbit to support sovereign cloud services and on-orbit AI processing. Google’s Project Suncatcher, announced in 2025, aims to place solar-powered TPU-equipped satellites in orbit by 2027. Parallel efforts are underway in China, Europe, and the lunar computing space.
Where we are going
Orbital data centers are unlikely to replace terrestrial infrastructure entirely, but they may become essential for AI training, secure storage, and space-based processing. As AI’s energy demands accelerate, space is emerging as the sustainable high ground for the next era of computing.
Will our AI race continue inventing restoration mechanisms for the harmful environmental impacts of energy-hungry AI evolution or shall we look to the outer orbit?
Dr. Keren Obara
Projects Officer; FRIENDS Consult Ltd