en.Wedoany.com Reported - Los Angeles-based Orbital Compute and Cowboy Space Corporation have respectively proposed large-scale low-orbit computing infrastructure plans, aiming to shift AI inference, remote sensing data processing, and other computing tasks to space. Orbital Compute plans to deploy up to 100,000 modular computing satellites, while Cowboy Space intends to build the "Stampede" constellation consisting of up to 20,000 large nodes. Both plans have entered the regulatory application phase but have not yet received deployment approval, nor have they launched any operational orbital data centers.
Orbital Compute adopts a distributed small-node approach. Under the current design, each satellite weighs approximately 2 tons, with solar panels spanning about 100 meters when deployed, providing roughly 100 kilowatts of computing power, equivalent to about 8 servers. If all 100,000 satellites are deployed, the theoretical total computing capacity would reach 10 gigawatts. The company plans to have them launched into orbit in batches by external launch service providers and to reduce the manufacturing and deployment cost per satellite through large-scale standardized production.
The plan will start with small verification payloads. The Pathfinder, equipped with a single GPU, is scheduled for a rideshare launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in 2027 to verify the operation of computing equipment in vacuum, radiation, and repeated temperature fluctuation environments. The first dedicated computing satellite, Orbital-1, is planned for launch in 2028. Orbital Compute is also preparing to build the Factory-1 satellite assembly and testing facility in the Los Angeles area to handle subsequent satellite assembly, system integration, and ground verification tasks.
Cowboy Space has chosen an integrated rocket and orbital data center approach. The company plans to independently develop a launch vehicle and design the rocket's upper stage as a permanent orbital computing node rather than discarding it after completing the launch mission. Each node will integrate megawatt-level computing equipment, solar power generation systems, and active thermal management systems, reducing redundant configurations between rocket structures, avionics, and satellite platforms, and allocating more launch mass to GPUs, power supplies, and cooling equipment.
The "Stampede" constellation is primarily planned for deployment in dawn-dusk sun-synchronous orbits at altitudes of approximately 700 to 1,000 kilometers, with a design life of about five years per node. The first launch target is 2028. Based on a design capacity of approximately 1 megawatt per node, the theoretical computing capacity after deploying all 20,000 satellites would approach 20 gigawatts. However, Cowboy Space has yet to complete actual verification of the new rocket and megawatt-level orbital computing nodes, and the relevant parameters remain engineering design targets.
Both plans seek to leverage orbital solar power to alleviate the constraints of electricity, land, grid connection, and cooling water faced by ground-based data centers. However, space computing still needs to address issues such as heat dissipation, radiation damage, equipment maintenance, GPU upgrades, and satellite deorbiting. In a vacuum environment, heat generated by equipment can only be radiated outward through large radiators; the higher the computing power, the greater the requirements for radiator area, heat transfer systems, and structural weight.
Currently, both companies are more inclined to use orbital computing for AI inference and satellite data processing rather than large-scale model training that requires extensive equipment coordination. Earth observation satellites can identify fires, ships, weather, or other targets in orbit and transmit only the processed results back to the ground, thereby reducing downlink data volume. Subsequent key milestones will focus on the launch of the first GPU verification payload, the operation of dedicated computing satellites, the commissioning of satellite assembly facilities, and the completion of the first commercial computing mission.
