Jeff Bezos Predicts Orbital Data Centers Within Two Decades, Citing Cooling and Solar Advantages
WASHINGTON D.C. – Jeff bezos, founder of Blue Origin, recently outlined a vision for large-scale data centers positioned in space within the next 10 to 20 years. The concept leverages the unique benefits of the space habitat, including natural cooling capabilities and highly effective solar power generation. However, a new analysis reveals the immense logistical and financial hurdles to realizing such a project.
the feasibility hinges on overcoming notable engineering and economic challenges. After accounting for system-level losses like wiring and thermal inefficiency, space-based solar arrays would require approximately 2.4 to 3.3 million square meters of panel area to generate sufficient power - an area equivalent to a square array between 1.56 and 1.82 km per side. This array would weigh an estimated 9,000 – 11,250 metric tons solely for the photovoltaic material, excluding structural supports, power routing, and control electronics.
Launching this infrastructure presents a substantial cost. utilizing SpaceX’s falcon Heavy,with a payload capacity of up to 64 metric tons,would cost between $13.7 and $17.1 billion, assuming an optimistic launch cost of ~$1,520/kg and near-max efficiency. A more conservative estimate of over $2,000/kg increases the cost to $25+ billion and necessitates over 150 launches for the solar panels alone.
Furthermore, the vast majority of input power will be converted into heat, requiring millions of square meters of radiators to dissipate a thermal load exceeding 1+ GW. The weight and launch costs associated with these radiators are projected to be in the tens of billions of dollars,potentially exceeding the cost of the solar panels themselves.
the AI server equipment required for the data centers would add tens of thousands of metric tons of weight and tens of billions of dollars to the overall project cost,even based on terrestrial pricing.
While theoretically possible, the analysis concludes that assembling and maintaining such an orbital power and data system presents enormous logistical, economic, and engineering obstacles.
