Plans put data centers into orbit and month

It sounds like something from a science fantastic film, but Stephen Eizel is sure that his company will open the data center on the moon.

“The way we see is that by putting the data center into space, you really offer unmatched security,” says Lonestar Data Holdings.

Last month, a firm based in Florida claimed that she had successfully checked The tiny data center is the size of the firm book, which swept up to the moon on the Lunar Lunar from the American Space Firm Intitive Machines. This, in turn, was launched by the SpaceX rocket Elon Musk.

Data processing centers are huge warehouses that live in home stacks that store and process the data used by web -stytes, companies and governments.

LONESTAR says the placement of them on the month offers customers a safe, reliable processing of data, using unlimited solar energy for their diet.

And although the space centers of data processing may seem far -fetched, this is an idea that really starts to take off.

Part of the reason is the demand for rocket and the complexity of finding suitable sites on Earth.

In the constantly expanding use of artificial intelligence (AI) calculations there is a mass increase in the amount of data that must be stored and processed worldwide.

As a result, the need for data center also increased and the annual demand for increasing From 19% to 22% By 2030, according to the global McKise Management consultants.

New premises are constantly arising – but it is difficult to find places for their location. The data centers are large and scattered, and use a huge amount of capacity and water to cool.

And more and more locals do not want them to be built nearby.

Installing data centers into space – either in orbit around Earth, or on the moon – the theory goes, means that they cannot cause a lot of harm. For example, in Sun, for example, the sun is available more or less unlimited energy, and there are no neighbors who may complain of environmental impact.

Not only do the data centers can specialize in spacecraft services and other space objects, and data transmission and spatial spaces are faster than from the ground.

Last summer, the study of the technical and economic justification in the orbit at the data center published its results.

In the Ascend report from Thales Alenia Space – a joint venture between French and Italian aerospace groups Thales and Leonardo – published its results.

This determined that deploying data centers in space “Can convert European digital landscape”, And be “more environmentally friendly”.

Thales Alenia space space involves creating a constellation of 13 satellites, which measure the combined 200 m by 80 m, and with a total data processing of about 10 megawatts (MW). This is equivalent to the current average, terrestrial data center, with about 5,000 servers.

Based on the technology that already exist or are in development, satellites will be assembled in orbit.

Damien Dometier, the Ascend project architect in Thales Alenia Space, says that for space centers data more environmentally friendly than existing terrestrial -based, launchers will need 10 times less emission in terms. He says it looks possible.

“But in order to cover new technology and production capacity to benefit from scale, we must consider a high system power, about 200 MW, that is, 200 of our large space infrastructure and 200 launches,” he says.

“The main question is when the adapted launcher is ready. Depending on the investment and decisions to be made, this can be done in 2030 or 2035, which means commercial vitality by 2037.”

However, despite this optimism on the part of firms seeking technology development, Dr. Domenica Vicinance, Associate Professor of the Department of Intellectual Systems and Science of the University of England Raskin in the UK, says there are many large obstacles before space centers can become a viable offer.

“Even when contributing and achieving companies such as SpaceX, the launch of the equipment in orbit remains extremely expensive,” he says. “Every kilogram that goes into space costs thousands of dollars.

“Space centers of data processing will require not only data equipment, but also infrastructure to protect, nutrition and cooling. All this consists of weight and complexity.”

Cooling equipment will be a special problem because, despite the fact that the space is cold, conventional cooling systems do not work without gravity.

Meanwhile, space weather can damage electronics, while the amount of space debris is constantly increasing.

D -R -Vicinance adds: “And it is not easy to correct the problems in the orbit.

“A great crash can require expensive human missions by potentially downtime for weeks or months.”

However, firms such as Lonestar are very confident and say they respond to demand. “We wouldn’t do this if the customers did not ask us,” says Mr. Scott.

Its subsequent purpose is to put a small data center into orbit about a month in 2027. Meanwhile, other companies hope to get there a little faster, for example, in Washington, which in the mid -2026 must launch satellite data center and start commercial operations.

Mr. Eidele Lonestar says space facilities offer greater security for governments and businesses as their data should not be directed through terrestrial networks. Instead, information can be changed directly from space to a special terrestrial station.

“It’s like storage at the back of the bank,” he says. “You do not need to open it every day, but it is to provide an additional safety measure, and the distance from the ground to the moon offers it – it is much more difficult to crack, which is much harder to access.”

Distance up to the moon means that data requires about one and a half seconds to reach the ground – it doesn’t matter for some applications, such as long -term data storage and backup.

Meanwhile, says LONESTAR Founder and Executive Director Chris Stott, Space Centers Data Processing can help organizations comply with the rules of data sovereignty – the need to keep people in the country of origin.

“According to space legislation, this electronics box is literally under the law of licensing or launching a state is the actual embassy in space,” he says.

Customers have already lined up in Lonestar, including Florida and the Meng Island.