Space-Based Data Centres Could Cost Up To 100 Times More Than Those On Earth, Google Energy Chief Says

Building data centers in orbit could be as much as 100 times costlier than building them on the ground, according to Google's head of data center energy Amanda Peterson Corio. She made the remark this week, and called it a reality check coming from a company that is itself testing AI server chips in space.

Peterson Corio urged the industry to exhaust its terrestrial options first, telling The Information, "Let's explore all the terrestrial options before we go extraterrestrial."

The warning stands out because of Google's own bet on the idea. Its refrigerator-sized Project Suncatcher prototype satellite reached sun-synchronous orbit on October 1, part of a research effort aimed at solar-powered AI data centers in space. Google has said the mission will test how its TPU chips cope with the physical stress of spaceflight and the radiation and thermal extremes of space. Working with satellite imagery company Planet, the company envisions clusters of satellites eventually orbiting together as space-based data centers.

The cost concern is shared by outside experts. In NPR's coverage of the Suncatcher launch, one expert said the cost and complexity of tasks like servicing hardware in orbit are amplified by a factor of 10, maybe 100, so any such project needs a big payoff. On the ground, a technician can simply swap out a faulty chip, which is far harder hundreds of miles above Earth.

The push into orbit comes as demand for computing power races ahead of supply. Google CEO Sundar Pichai said at the company's developer conference in May that AI demand is outstripping supply, and expects capital spending of $180 billion to $190 billion this year. Public pushback against power-hungry data centers on Earth keeps growing, and SpaceX is also working on orbital AI compute satellites, with deployment expected as early as 2028.

Peterson Corio's comments suggest Google sees space as a long-term experiment rather than a near-term fix for the power constraints facing its data centers on Earth.