Space-based AI data centers could be cost-competitive in 3–5 years

Several major tech companies have announced plans for orbital data centers (ODCs) for AI compute. According to the article, cost-competitiveness hinges on Starship achieving reusability similar to Falcon: at a launch cost of roughly $250/kg, space-based solar reaches cost parity with present-day off-grid terrestrial power; at $50/kg it becomes cheaper than any current terrestrial energy source. ODCs likely suit inference workloads early on due to bandwidth limits, may need ~38% extra non-compute hardware over five years to handle component failures, and could become cost-competitive within 3–5 years if Starship development stays on track.