Orbital Compute Inc., a five-month-old space startup that emerged from stealth last month with a $5 million pre-seed round, has filed with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for permission to launch up to 100,000 orbital data center satellites. The proposed constellation is designed to deliver a cumulative 10 gigawatts of computing power, positioning the company at the frontier of a contentious debate over the feasibility of space-based AI infrastructure.
The filing underscores a growing tension in the data center industry: global AI compute demand is surging exponentially, but terrestrial expansion is increasingly constrained by limited power availability, lengthy grid interconnection timelines, and cooling water scarcity. In the application, Orbital CEO Euwyn Poon argued that space-based data centers, powered by solar energy, represent a sustainable and scalable complement to terrestrial infrastructure without competing for scarce grid resources. He emphasized that the “near-absolute-zero thermal environment of space” enables passive radiative cooling, eliminating the need for the energy-intensive cooling infrastructure required by Earth-bound data centers. However, the company also noted that each satellite would require 100-meter radiators to manage heat dissipation.
Each Orbital satellite is designed to operate at 100 kilowatts of compute capacity in low Earth orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 500 and 850 kilometers. The spacecraft will be deployed in discrete, near-circular orbital shells up to 50 kilometers wide, with an expected operational lifespan of seven years. Each satellite will feature solar arrays and radiators spanning roughly 100 meters, with a mass between 1.5 and 2.5 metric tons. The constellation will rely on third-party networks, including Starlink and Amazon’s satellite systems, for data relay via optical inter-satellite links. Orbital satellites will not conduct daily ground communications through radio frequency or optical means; the company has requested use of Ka-band spectrum solely as a backup for telemetry, tracking, and command operations, insisting this would place negligible demand on shared spectrum resources.
Orbital’s pathfinder demonstrator is scheduled for 2027. It will launch a prototype integrated with Nvidia’s Blackwell chip to test GPU operation, radiation tolerance, thermal performance, and data downlink. Poon described the demonstrator as “maybe one one-hundredth the size” of the planned Orbital-1 satellites. The company has previously indicated that later generations of satellites will be able to integrate Nvidia’s Space-1 Vera Rubin module.
The FCC application also included a nine-page orbital debris assessment report, in which Orbital committed to disposing of defunct satellites within five years, maintaining a 0.001 percent probability of explosion or conjunction, and planning for a 25-year uncontrolled re-entry timeline in the event of uncontrolled satellite loss. The company also promised to coordinate with NASA regarding transit through orbital altitudes occupied by the International Space Station, the Tiangong Space Station, and any other inhabited spacecraft.
Poon, who previously founded the e-scooter company Spin and sold it to Ford in 2017, drew parallels between the micro-mobility and space industries. He noted that at the outset of Spin, several companies were attempting to build large fleets, a dynamic he sees repeating now with satellite constellations. He emphasized that an orbital data center is a relatively simple system at its core, with the main complexity lying in launch. “The rest of it is first principles physics and manufacturing,” he said, adding that while operating in a vacuum and shielding against radiation add complexity, the challenges are solvable.
The filing comes amid growing skepticism from industry experts, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who have suggested that some in the “Silicon Valley promoter class” are overstating the feasibility of orbital data centers. Orbital’s ambitious plans will now face regulatory scrutiny and technical hurdles as the company seeks to turn its vision of a 10GW space-based compute constellation into reality.
Source: datacenterdynamics