Bloomberg Technology
Orbital Data Centers Face Space-Based Challenges
Philip Johnston, Starcloud CEO, joins to discuss the challenges of building and maintaining orbital data centers in space, this as SpaceX says it wants to ultimately deploy 100 gigawatts of AI compute capacity in orbit. He joins Ed Ludlow on “Bloomberg Tech.” ——– Like this video? Subscribe to Bloomberg Technology on YouTube: Watch the…
@glanerao1356
June 5, 2026 at 2:09 pm
That’s crazy number. 🖤🔥
@billthecat7536
June 5, 2026 at 2:24 pm
You got one thing wrong, Ed. SpaceX will place it’s AI sats in orbit where they will get 24 hr. sunlight. No need for large battery storage.
@michaeldunne338
June 5, 2026 at 4:46 pm
Sun Synchronous orbits have their own drawbacks, like launch penalty, in comparison to LEO and other more standard orbits. And still need batteries, for back up power, for providing power before deployment of solar arrays, for powering the equipment as the satellite goes through the occasional eclipse, etc.
@daShadoSage
June 5, 2026 at 5:26 pm
He was right. And the one doing it also confirmed because:
1. Most Earth orbits pass through shadow.
-Satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) (like Starlink) spend part of each orbit in Earth’s shadow.
– During those eclipse periods, solar panels produce no power.
– Batteries supply power until sunlight returns.
2. Power demand fluctuates.
– AI workloads can spike.
– Batteries help smooth power delivery.
3. Redundancy and fault tolerance.
– If a solar array has an issue, batteries provide backup power.
@118Columbus
June 5, 2026 at 6:41 pm
Lasers are not a squiggly line. Lasers are perfectly straight.
@TwinFloss
June 6, 2026 at 11:20 am
Yes the Sun Synchronous Orbit
@billthecat7536
June 5, 2026 at 2:24 pm
You got one thing wrong, Ed. SpaceX will place it’s AI sats in orbit where they will get 24 hr. sunlight. No need for large scale battery storage.
@karlmckinnell2635
June 7, 2026 at 4:32 am
Shows the level of ignorance of the subject he’s trying to represent.
@wm6746
June 5, 2026 at 4:08 pm
FUCKING STOP!!! THIS IS A PIPE DREAM 100 GIGAS IS 50-70 MILLION GPU’S, THEY WOULD HAVE TO BE SENT PRE-BUILT WHICH WOULD TAKE 140,000 -200,000 FALCON 9 LAUNCHES …😂😂😂😂😂…. 14.8 TRILLION DOLLARS IN LAUNCH COSTS ALONE
@daShadoSage
June 5, 2026 at 5:22 pm
Absolutely right
@118Columbus
June 5, 2026 at 6:43 pm
Don’t let reality get in the way of a good story!
@Clogartoable
June 6, 2026 at 4:00 am
100GW in space would take $70,000,000 of launch cost and require total or 3,500 launches
100GW – 70million GPU’s. 200 GPU’s per satellite = 350,000 satellites. 2 tonnes per satellite = 700,000 gross tonnage (Satrship V4 can launch 200 tonnes per launch) = 3,500 launches needed. Or 100 satellite at 2 tonne each per launch = 3,500 launches. At a launch cost of $100 per tonne = $70,000,000 total launch cost to put 100 Giga watts into orbit
@118Columbus
June 6, 2026 at 6:43 am
@Clogartoable$100 per ton? It costs $100,000 per ton so it cost $70 billion, not $70 million.
@Clogartoable
June 6, 2026 at 6:48 am
@118Columbuswhen starship v4 is flying, the cost of mass to orbit will be $100 per ton onboard starship v4
@118Columbus
June 5, 2026 at 6:41 pm
Reporter Bro’s knowledge of science is awful. He doesn’t understand the basics of how science and physics works.
@118Columbus
June 5, 2026 at 6:43 pm
A rendering is just an illustration and it can be made by AI in 1 second.
@118Columbus
June 5, 2026 at 6:44 pm
Elon Musk is just copying Starcloud which is a pipe dream.
@ThomasHUsher
June 5, 2026 at 9:47 pm
How will they handle space debris?
@statebased
June 6, 2026 at 9:19 am
🤦🏻♂️ about 42 football fields of surface needed to cool 1GW in space, or?
@ShuckleGod-j5i
June 6, 2026 at 9:30 am
It’s a scam😅
@xtrafunk
June 6, 2026 at 8:40 pm
This is the most blatant scam ever. Wall street is a joke for taking any of this nonsense seriously.
@karlmckinnell2635
June 7, 2026 at 4:30 am
😂 what type of clown is this? Batteries for when the sun is blocked 😂 what is going to block the sun? A tree perhaps 😂😂
@xFR34KEEx
June 7, 2026 at 11:30 am
We need SDCs or UDCs NOT LDCs!!
@px7460
June 7, 2026 at 12:33 pm
Life cycle for satellite is 3-5 years.
Note: Space Junk isn’t just a nuisance (see Kessler syndrome)
@babyUFO.
June 7, 2026 at 1:03 pm
You would do anything to throw shade on Elon. Piss off.
@joserosales8054
June 7, 2026 at 1:41 pm
Now they want to pollute space because they can’t pollute the earth. What’s wrong with all these freaking power hungry organizations. Why do they all have to destroy everything for their fancy technologies to be of use. Maybe we need to stop subsidizing these corporations before the ruin the rest of the world they haven’t yet. Wake up people how the hell does doing this benefit us the people. Seriously
@joserosales8054
June 7, 2026 at 1:44 pm
They wanna put lazers on them for communication. Yeah and what else? To shoot from space anyone them deem a threat. Nothing good about this idea
@joserosales8054
June 7, 2026 at 1:49 pm
Bro just stop and come up with something else that isn’t gonna be used as another form of surveillance or even weapons systems. Imagine if those huge things fall to earth? A 4 km long object to fall to earth would cause massive damage and the major damage to people. This is just stupid. We know what you build data center. Stop. Don’t destroy space with your crap
@FINLEY-1k
June 7, 2026 at 1:55 pm
The end is coming. 1GW can power 750,000 homes. They are going to live in space and leave us all behind to die.
@cgreenfield6655
June 7, 2026 at 2:02 pm
Let them leave we don’t need greedy billionaires