Space Data Centers Will Be Cheaper Than Terrestrial in 2 to 3 Years

What was said

"We did a study with our partners at Google about 8 or 9 years ago looking at what are the costs of data centers on the ground, what are the costs that it would take to put them in space, and when might it make sense to do it non-terrestrially. And we figured out that when launch costs come down to about $200 to $300 a kilogram, it would be cheaper, just simply cheaper to put the data centers in space. Now we're about $1,000 a kilogram, just over that in right today. On the current trajectory with Starship in particular, I would expect the launch costs come down there in 2 to 3 years."

Will Marshall revealed that Google and Planet Labs conducted a joint study concluding that space-based data centers will become economically superior to Earth-based facilities once SpaceX's Starship reduces launch costs from the current $1,000 per kilogram to $200-300 per kilogram. Marshall stated this threshold is 2-3 years away, though he acknowledged technical challenges around building satellite clusters in orbit remain unsolved. The development could shift trillions of dollars in computing infrastructure off-planet within the next decade.