Sundar Pichai, the chief executive of Google, suggests that a new era of data centers located beyond Earth is within reach, approximately ten years from now.

Sundar Pichai, the CEO, stated on Sunday during a Fox News interview broadcast that Google intends to commence building AI data facilities in orbit shortly. The technology conglomerate revealed this intention Project Suncatcher earlier in the month, aiming to discover more effective methods for supplying power to energy-intensive centers, specifically utilizing solar energy in this instance.

“One of our moonshots is to, how do we one day have data centers in space so that we can better harness the energy from the sun that is 100 trillion times more energy than what we produce on all of Earth today?” Pichai said.

Google plans to initiate the development of its initial off-world data facilities by early 2027, collaborating with satellite imagery company Planet. This venture will involve deploying two experimental satellites to evaluate the necessary technology within Earth's orbit. Pichai stated that data centers positioned in space are anticipated to become the prevailing norm in the coming years.

“But there’s no doubt to me that a decade or so away will be viewing it as a more normal way to build data centers,” he said. 

The data center space race

Certainly, Google isn't the sole entity exploring aerial solutions for enhancing data center performance. Just this month, Starcloud, a startup supported by Y Combinator and Nvidia, sent its first AI-equipped satellite to space. Its chief executive and cofounder, Philip Johnston, forecasts that data centers situated beyond Earth will generate 10 times lower fewer carbon emissions compared to those on our planet, even when factoring in the emissions associated with their launch.

Although the expense of satellites for testing AI hardware in space has decreased drastically, making extraterrestrial data center construction feasible, the price of establishing these solar-powered facilities remains uncertain, especially considering that terrestrial data centers are projected to necessitate over $5 trillion in capital outlays by 2030, as reported in an April McKinseyreport.

Google, having re-established itself as a leading contender in AI discussions with the recent release of Gemini 3, is among numerous significant cloud providers investing heavily in data centers to enhance their computational power. This month, Google revealed plans for a $40 billion investment concerning data center development in Texas.

Concurrently, discussions about an AI bubble suggest the potential for an excessive supply of data centers, which might transform the intense competition for data center capacity into a perilous overspending.

“The stakes are high,” the McKinsey report said. “Overinvesting in data center infrastructure risks stranding assets, while underinvesting means falling behind.”

The utilization of solar power for data centers is gaining traction due to mounting worries regarding the environmental impact of scaling up AI processing, a task that demands substantial energy. A report released in December 2024 by the U.S. Department of Energy report concerning domestic data center consumption revealed that the power demand from these facilities has seen a threefold increase over the past decade and could potentially double or triple again by 2028. The study indicates that these data centers accounted for over 4% of the nation's electricity in 2023, with projections suggesting they might consume as much as 12% of U.S. Electricity by 2028.

In the past five years, Google's electricity usage for its data centers has more than doubled, consuming 30.8 million megawatt-hours of power last year, a significant increase from 14.4 million in 2020, the year it started meticulously monitoring data center energy demands, as detailed in its most recent sustainability report published in June. 

Google has strived to decrease the power consumption for its expanding data centers, noting a 12% reduction in data center energy emissions during 2024, even with a larger operational area. Nevertheless, questions persist regarding the long-term viability of data center growth.

“There is still much we don’t know about the environmental impact of AI but some of the data we do have is concerning,” Golestan Radwan, United Nations Environment Programme chief digital office, said in a statement last year following the program’s note warning of the environmental impact of AI infrastructure expansion. “We need to make sure the net effect of AI on the planet is positive before we deploy the technology at scale.”