India's Growing Interest in Space-Based Data Centers Spurred by Start-up Ambition

Orbital Data Centres: The Future of Compute in Space

The use of generative artificial intelligence has become an intrinsic part of daily life, with users relying on applications like ChatGPT to answer everyday questions. However, the cost of this convenience is a significant environmental concern, with AI data centres consuming massive amounts of power and water.

In India, where agriculture still accounts for more than half of the country's workforce, the need for sustainable data centre solutions is pressing. In response, Indian tech bigwigs and space startups are exploring the possibility of placing data centres in space, following in the footsteps of Elon Musk and other tech leaders.

What are Orbital Data Centres?

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Orbital data centres are a new concept that leverages the unique environment of space to create efficient and sustainable compute infrastructure. By placing data centres in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), companies can harness the benefits of continuous solar exposure, passive thermal environments, and proximity to space-generated data.

The Science Behind Orbital Data Centres

The Earth's LEO is located at altitudes of 400-1,400 km above its surface, where satellites can travel around the planet every 90-120 km. This proximity to the Sun provides almost-continuous solar exposure, allowing for round-the-clock, cheap solar power. In contrast, traditional data centres require huge quantities of clean water for cooling, which is not necessary in space.

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Indian Startups Leading the Charge

Several Indian startups are pioneering the development of orbital data centres, including:

• Pixxel, a Bengaluru-based spacetech startup, which is partnering with AI startup Sarvam AI to deploy a 200 kg-class Pathfinder satellite that will host data-centre-grade GPUs to run Indian-governed language models.
• Agnikul Cosmos, a Chennai-based launch provider, which is teaming up with cloud infrastructure firm NeevCloud to deploy an orbital AI inference network.
• TakeMe2Space, a Hyderabad-based startup, which plans to deploy a 50 kw orbital data centre.

Challenges and Opportunities

While orbital data centres offer significant benefits, they also present several challenges, including:

• Downlink infrastructure: Satellites do not maintain continuous connectivity with a single point on Earth, making data transmission a significant challenge.
• Radiation hardening: Traditional GPUs were not designed for space and require significant modifications to survive radiation exposure.
• Launch costs: Currently, launch costs are high, making it difficult to deploy orbital data centres economically.

However, industry executives believe that the economics of compute will eventually be in space, with reusable rockets like Starship potentially lowering launch costs to $200-$500 per kilogram.

The Bigger Picture

Orbital data centres sit at the intersection of three global races: AI supremacy, sovereign technology infrastructure, and the commercialisation of space. India is uniquely positioned to participate in all three, with launch providers, AI companies, governments, satellite startups, and venture capital all vying for a piece of the pie.

While the future of orbital data centres is uncertain, one thing is clear: the race to build it has already begun.