Elon Musk targets launch of orbital data center by late 2027
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is targeting the launch of an orbital data center by late 2027. At the same time, industry participants believe such systems will be able to reach significant scale only in the 2030s, CNBC Top News reports.
Orbital data centers are being considered as a possible next stage in building infrastructure for artificial intelligence. However, several technological barriers must be overcome before this concept becomes practical.
Cooling and radiation protection
Neuberger portfolio manager Evelyn Chow called cooling one of the main problems. Ground-based data centers can use liquid cooling, but in the vacuum of space, heat is removed differently. The equipment must also be resistant to radiation.
According to Chow, significant satellite launches and parallel development of communications systems will be needed over the next four to five years before truly large-scale orbital data centers can be discussed. She called it a prospect for the next decade.
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Data transmission and power supply
Blaine Curcio, founder of Orbital Gateway Consulting, also pointed to the rapid upgrading of graphics processing units. According to him, a data center with state-of-the-art equipment sent into space at considerable expense could become obsolete in just a few years.
Another challenge is transmitting large volumes of data to Earth. Transcelestial, a company specializing in laser communications, is working to solve this problem. Its co-founder and CEO, Rohit Jha, noted that without the ability to interact with artificial intelligence systems, such data centers would be useless.
Jha also suggested that bringing orbital data centers to hyperscale could require another five to seven years. In his view, nuclear power will likely be needed for that scale.
