Forward-looking: Data centers, the crux of all things digital, are also enormous energy and water hogs. While the industry has been putting in place more sustainable operating practices, they don’t touch the eco-friendly benefits offered by another idea: data centers that operate in space. A new European study has found that not only is this concept technically feasible, but it could also eventually deliver a significant return on investment.
The demand for data centers is surging, thanks in large part to the explosion of AI. Unfortunately, this growth comes with enormous pressure on energy supplies and resources. Data centers are responding by implementing new technologies to reduce the energy required to power and cool their servers. However, one initiative takes things much further – into space, to be precise.
Thales Alenia Space, a joint venture between aerospace-and-defense companies Thales of France and Leonardo of Italy just unveiled the ASCEND (Advanced Space Cloud for European Net zero emission and Data sovereignty) study that looked at the feasibility of space-based data centers. One advantage was immediately apparent: space data centers would not need water to cool them.
“The idea [is] to take off part of the energy demand for data centers and to send them in space in order to benefit from infinite energy, which is solar energy,” said Damien Dumestier, manager of the project.
The study compared the environmental impacts of both space-based and Earth-based data centers as well as exploring whether operating such a center in orbit was even technologically feasible.
The project would require the development of a launcher that is ten times less emissive over its lifecycle, which the study found to be possible. ArianeGroup, one of the 12 companies participating in the study, is working on this aspect of the project, with the first eco-launcher set to be ready by 2035.
Modular space infrastructures would be assembled in orbit using robotic technologies provided by the European Commission’s EROSS IOD (European Robotic Orbital Support Services in Orbit Demonstrator), led by Thales Alenia Space. This project is scheduled to fly its first mission in 2026. These facilities would orbit at an altitude of around 870 miles, or three times the altitude of the International Space Station.
Dumestier said that ASCEND aims to deploy 13 space data center building blocks with a total capacity of 10 megawatts in 2036. Each building block includes capacity for its own data center service and is launched within one space vehicle. Ultimately, the objective is to deploy 1,300 building blocks by 2050 to achieve 1 gigawatt of capacity.
The study also found that space-based data centers are economically viable, with the potential for a return on investment of several billion euros by 2050.
The case for space-based data centers has caught the attention of others as well. Microsoft is collaborating with Loft Orbital and other companies on such a potential project to “lay the groundwork for future data management solutions in space,” according to a spokesperson from Redmond.
