Jul 07, 2026 | Posted by Abdul-Rahman Oladimeji
Orbital Compute Inc. has filed with US regulators for permission to deploy up to 100,000 orbital data center (ODC) satellites over the coming years. The five-month-old space startup, which recently emerged from stealth with a $5 million pre-seed funding round, says the satellite constellation would provide a combined 10GW of computing capacity.
“Global AI compute demand is growing exponentially, but terrestrial data center expansion is constrained by power availability, grid interconnection timelines, and cooling water scarcity,” wrote Euwyn Poon, CEO of Orbital, who wrote the application. “Space-based data centers powered by solar energy represent a sustainable, scalable solution that complements terrestrial infrastructure without competing for scarce grid resources.”
Orbital says its satellites will use space’s cold environment for passive cooling, though each spacecraft will still require 100-meter radiators. The planned LEO satellites will deliver 100kW of compute capacity each, operate for seven years, and rely on third-party networks like Starlink and Amazon for data relay. A prototype satellite, launching in 2027 with an Nvidia Blackwell GPU, will test compute performance, radiation tolerance, cooling, and data transmission.
Orbital says future satellite generations could integrate Nvidia’s Space-1 Vera Rubin module. The company’s FCC filing also includes a debris plan covering satellite disposal, collision risks, uncontrolled re-entry, and coordination with NASA for operations near crewed spacecraft. Founder Poon, who previously sold e-scooter company Spin to Ford, compared building satellite constellations to scaling urban mobility infrastructure, highlighting iterative design as key to growth.
