Why Orbital Data Centers Are Harder Than Silicon Valley Thinks

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang announced the arrival of space computing as orbital data centers become a significant spending category. SpaceX is planning a constellation of space-based data centers through xAI. Google, partnering with Planet via Project Suncatcher, intends to launch satellites featuring Google TPU AI chips by early 2027. Meanwhile, startup Starcloud has submitted a proposal to the Federal Communications Commission for an 88,000-satellite constellation, further expanding the reach of orbital data processing infrastructure.