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The first step in a plan to put solar-powered artificial intelligence data centers into space is planned for Oct. 1, when a Google-funded satellite loaded onto a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is expected to launch from California.
The spacecraft is a prototype, not a full-fledged data center. Google’s test satellite has the computing power of one server in a data center and solar panels that generate about 1 kilowatt — enough to run a hairdryer — but its journey into space is meant to help Google determine whether and to what extent it can put much larger data centers into space, The New York Times reported.
As data centers face increasing opposition and infrastructural challenges, getting them into space is increasingly a focus for major tech companies.
But the hurdles to getting these facilities into orbit are many. Data centers would have to survive radiation in space, and the costs to even get them there would likely be massive. One kilogram of material costs around $8K to get into space, one expert told the NYT.
The potentially destructive space radiation is another side of the coin of the appeal of orbital data centers. Space data centers would have nearly continuous access to sunlight, which would yield up to eight times more solar power than on Earth, according to Google's Project Suncatcher.
Terrestrially, quick access to adequate power is a major challenge for many projects. On Thursday, Oracle cited force majeure, in addition to community pushback, as it attempts to put off making payments on a multibillion-dollar New Mexico data center project facing hurdles to connecting to its power source.
Tesla’s Elon Musk, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Nvidia’s Jensen Huang and OpenAI’s Sam Altman have all expressed their support for data centers in space. The Oct. 1 launch is likely the beginning of a very long process to get data centers into space, Google's senior vice president for research told the NYT.
The foray into space comes as demand for data center capacity across North America hit a new record in the first half of 2026, reaching double the demand from the same period in the prior year. The number of large-scale data centers in the U.S. is projected to triple by 2030.
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