Amazon’s top cloud executive has cast doubt on the near-term feasibility of space-based data centers, despite growing interest from tech leaders and startups driven by the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence.
Speaking at the Cisco AI Summit in San Francisco, Amazon Web Services (AWS) CEO Matt Garman said the idea remains impractical due to high costs and limited launch capacity. He noted that while AI’s explosive growth is putting pressure on land-based data centers—particularly in terms of power and cooling—sending computing infrastructure into orbit is far from economical.
“There are not enough rockets to launch a million satellites yet,” Garman said, adding that the cost of getting payloads into space is still “massive.” He stressed that, for now, the concept simply does not make financial sense.
Interest in orbital data centers has been rising as companies look for alternatives to Earth-based facilities that face overheating and energy constraints. Blue Origin, founded by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, is reportedly exploring the concept, while several startups are also working on similar ideas.
Meanwhile, Elon Musk has linked the recent merger of SpaceX and xAI to the long-term goal of building data centers in space, arguing that global AI-driven electricity demand may eventually exceed what terrestrial solutions can support.
Adding to the momentum, Google announced Project Suncatcher last November, an orbital data center initiative that could see test launches as early as next year. However, industry leaders like Amazon maintain that such projects are still years away from becoming viable.