Blue Origin also wants to put AI data centers in space

Blue Origin revealed its plans for an orbital AI data center system in a new filing with the Federal Communications Commission. The company has asked the agency for permission to deploy 51,600 satellites, as reported by The Wall Street Journal And SpaceNews. Called Project Sunrise, the initiative aims to launch and operate a constellation of satellites capable of providing computing capacity for artificial intelligence uses.

Project Sunrise satellites will be placed in sun-synchronous orbits at altitudes between 311 and 1,118 miles. Each layer of the constellation will have between 300 and 1,000 satellites and will be spaced about 3 to 6 miles apart. In its filing, Blue Origin said the constellation would complement terrestrial data centers.

The satellites will of course be equipped with solar panels to be able to capture energy from the sun. Blue Origin explained that AI’s orbital data center will reduce the “marginal cost of computing capacity compared to terrestrial alternatives” because the satellites will be powered by the sun, will not need land, and will not need network infrastructure. Project Sunrise “will enable U.S. companies developing and using AI to thrive, accelerating breakthroughs in machine learning, autonomous systems and predictive analytics,” Blue Origin added.

By filing its application with the FCC, Blue Origin has officially joined SpaceX in the list of companies looking to build an AI data center in space. In January, SpaceX asked the FCC for permission to deploy 1 million satellites for its constellation. The company justified at the time that “orbital data centers provide the most efficient way to meet the growing demand for AI computing power.”