Data Centers in Space: The Opportunity Is Real

Orbital data centers could become a meaningful extension of AI and space infrastructure, but their first viable applications are likely to be small, space-native computing systems rather than hyperscale facilities.

• Global data center electricity consumption is expected to nearly double from 2025 to 2030 to around 945 TWh, while more than 100 GW of new US data center capacity could come online between 2025 and 2035; roughly 20% of planned projects face significant delays and interconnection queues can last a decade.
• Sun-synchronous orbit could provide near-continuous solar power, with panels generating up to eight times more energy than comparable terrestrial systems, while radiative cooling could reduce operating costs by nearly 67% versus terrestrial facilities.
• Launch economics remain prohibitive: a representative orbital node may require 40 kilograms of hardware per delivered kilowatt, implying about 40,000 metric tons for a one-gigawatt facility and more than $80 billion in launch costs at current prices, compared with roughly $40 billion of upfront capital for a terrestrial equivalent.
• Global X estimates that launch costs need to approach $200 per kilogram, versus roughly $2,700 today, for the economics to become viable; launch costs have already fallen about 90% over the past decade, but the threshold may not be reached until the mid-2030s.
• Early demand is more likely to come from in-orbit processing for Earth observation, defense and communications: SpaceX could begin deploying a constellation of up to one million satellites as early as 2028, while Starcloud deployed a data-center-class GPU in November 2025 and Google and Planet Labs are targeting a prototype launch in 2027.

Takeaway: The near-term investment opportunity remains satellite connectivity, broadband and Earth-observation services in a space economy projected to grow from roughly $630 billion in 2024 toward $1 trillion by 2034; orbital computing adds longer-term upside, but depends on major reductions in launch costs and progress on radiation, thermal management and connectivity.