October 30, 2025
A new partnership aims to overcome one of the most significant hurdles to building massive data centers in orbit: construction. In-space assembly startup Rendezvous Robotics has announced an agreement with AI infrastructure company Starcloud to explore the use of autonomous, modular technology to build orbital data centers on a previously unimaginable scale.
The collaboration is a direct response to the soaring energy demands of artificial intelligence and the environmental impact of terrestrial data centers. Proponents argue that space-based computing facilities can leverage the constant, powerful energy of the sun, moving heavy industry off the planet. Critics, however, point to immense technical challenges, including heat dissipation and the prohibitive cost of space access.
The ambition of the project is underscored by Starcloud's previously announced plan to build a 5-gigawatt orbital data center. The facility would require "super-large solar and cooling panels approximately 4 kilometers in width and length."
To put this in perspective, the eight main solar arrays on the International Space Station—the largest ever built in space—span about 100 meters and produce a maximum of 240 kilowatts. Starcloud's proposed array would need to generate over 20,000 times more power, a feat that would be astronomically expensive with traditional launch and assembly methods.
Rendezvous Robotics believes its technology provides a solution. The company's approach is based on self-assembling tile technology, known as Project TESSERAE, which was originally developed by founder Ariel Ekblaw at the MIT Media Lab.
"The core thesis of our company is that we can additively assemble things and then reconfigure them in orbit," said Phil Frank, CEO of Rendezvous Robotics.
"Ostensibly, the size is not the limit anymore... that’s what led to us talking to the Starcloud team."
The company's tiles are fully autonomous, equipped with their own batteries, edge processors, and swarm robotics software that uses electromagnetic control to self-assemble and self-correct into large structures. Dozens of these tiles can be stacked inside a standard rocket's payload fairing and then released in space to configure themselves, eliminating the need for complex origami-like deployment mechanisms or astronauts performing risky assembly spacewalks.
"With the state-of-the-art [assembly] today... you have to either send a person with a wrench to space... use a robotic arm... or design a complicated origami folding mechanical system, which limits how big you can build," explained co-founder Joe Landon. "Those are the three techniques that we can replace."
The new agreement will allow Rendezvous to work directly with Starcloud engineers to tailor its upcoming demonstration missions. A test involving 32 dinner plate-sized tiles is planned for next year aboard the International Space Station, which could be used to prove the feasibility of building the massive solar arrays and cooling radiators required.
"Starcloud’s mission is to move cloud computing closer to where data is generated," said Starcloud CEO Philip Johnston. "Partnering with Rendezvous gives us the ability to scale our orbital power and cooling systems to meet the growing demand for space-based datacenters and AI workloads. Together, we’re laying the groundwork for a new class of orbital infrastructure."
While the path to operational orbital data centers remains long and fraught with challenges, the partnership signals a growing belief within the industry that meeting the infrastructure demands of AI may ultimately require looking beyond Earth.
Source: arstechnica
