The scramble to launch data centers into space is heating up
Baiju Bhatt, co-founder of space-based solar company Aetherflux and Robinhood Financial LLC, speaks during the TechCrunch Disrupt 2018 summit in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Thursday, Sept. 6, 2018.
A startup developing technologies to harness solar power in space is throwing its hat in with big tech companies attempting to build out data centers that orbit Earth. The US-based company, Aetherflux, announced on Tuesday that it plans to launch its first data center satellite in early 2027 - the first piece of a larger constellation of satellites it's calling the "Galactic Brain."
Tech companies are running into physical limits to their AI ambitions on Earth - namely needing more space and electricity for data centers. One potential solution they're exploring is to try sending some of those data centers into orbit, where they could run o …