Why Would Anyone Put a Data Center in Orbit?

Philip Johnston says a data center in orbit gets cheaper than one on Earth once launch falls to about $500 a kilogram. A new solar project built to power a ground data center has three big costs. Permitted land is the biggest, and the price depends on location. Batteries for backup power are second. The solar cells themselves are last.

In space, permitted land is unnecessary, so the biggest cost is gone. Batteries are unnecessary because the panels stay in the sun around the clock. The design needs about eight times fewer solar cells, because one square meter of panel in space produces about eight times the energy. Launch is the new cost. Running those numbers is where the $500 a kilogram line comes from.

Falcon 9 is about $5,000 a kilogram today. He first attached that price to Starship, then corrected it to Falcon 9. Starship is designed for an internal launch cost of $20 to $40 a kilogram. The space plan still works if SpaceX passes launch through at anything less than about 10 times that marginal cost, and he leaves open whether a higher multiple still makes sense.