Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos said bringing a data center into space is a “very realistic” outcome, but it may take longer to pull off than expected as enthusiasm for the field builds ahead of SpaceX’s upcoming IPO.
“Some of the timelines we’re hearing are very short,” he told CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin on Wednesday. “People talk about two or three years. That’s probably a little ambitious.”
Bezos, who founded the space company Blue Origin, said one of the key barriers to entry is energy, and the cost of chips needs to come down to free up data center budgets. Launch costs also need to be cheaper, he said.
Space companies are racing to bring data centers to life in orbit, but the demand for artificial intelligence requires vast energy resources. Proponents argue that orbital data centers would provide unlimited access to solar energy and solve the problem of finding land to build these vast sites.
Companies are betting big on the potential of space-based data centers. Musk said in February that building “orbital data centers” in space was one of the main reasons for merging SpaceX and his artificial intelligence startup xAI.
In March, Blue Origin submitted plans to the Federal Communications Commission to send 51,600 data center satellites into low Earth orbit as part of an effort called Project Sunrise.
These satellites will be supported by Blue Origin’s planned constellation called TeraWave. Blue Origin is seeking regulatory approval to launch TeraWave and has said it hopes to begin deploying the constellation in the fourth quarter of 2027.
The billionaire tech entrepreneur’s comments come ahead of SpaceX’s IPO filing, which is expected as early as this week. Space stocks rose earlier on hopes that an IPO and President Donald Trump’s “Golden Dome” defense system plan will bring capital into the sector and more government contracts.
SpaceX was most recently valued at $1.25 trillion after Musk’s merger with xAI, and could be valued at $1.75 trillion or more when it goes public.
Bezos said he didn’t know how much of that valuation was based on finances or bets on the future, but said, “One thing is for sure: Space is going to be a huge industry.”
Blue Origin’s strategy also includes relocating industry from Earth to the Moon. This includes building solar cells from lunar materials, where the moon’s gravitational distribution makes launching into space easier, Bezos said.
The company is also working with NASA and the U.S. government to build a permanent base on the moon and expand U.S. defense capabilities to maintain space supremacy, Bezos said.
“I would like to warn people who think this is all science fiction to be a little bit cautious in their judgment, because it’s real and it’s happening,” he said. “It’s probably going to happen sooner than many people think.”
— CNBC’s Annie Palmer contributed reporting
