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Jeff Bezos Envisions Gigawatt-Scale Data Centres in Space Within Two Decades

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Amazon founder Jeff Bezos says it’s only a matter of time before humanity builds massive data centres in orbit, powered by continuous solar energy and free from Earth’s environmental constraints. Speaking at Italian Tech Week in Turin, Bezos predicted that gigawatt-scale orbital data hubs could become a reality within the next 10 to 20 years, eventually surpassing their terrestrial counterparts in efficiency and cost.

“These giant training clusters—those will be better built in space,” Bezos said during a conversation with Ferrari and Stellantis Chairman John Elkann. “We have solar power there 24/7—no clouds, no rain, no weather. We will be able to beat the cost of terrestrial data centres in space in the next couple of decades.”

The idea of space-based computing infrastructure is gaining traction among tech firms as AI-driven demand for electricity, cooling, and server capacity skyrockets on Earth. Conventional data centres are now among the world’s largest industrial consumers of energy and water, fueling the search for sustainable alternatives.

Bezos described orbital data centres as a natural next step in the broader trend of using space to improve life on Earth, noting that satellites already manage weather forecasting, communications, and navigation. “The next step is data centres, then other kinds of manufacturing,” he said.

However, the vision faces formidable obstacles: high launch costs, maintenance difficulties, and the risk of mission failures in space. Frequent upgrades—a routine part of Earth-based data infrastructure—would be far more complicated in orbit.

Beyond technology, Bezos framed the discussion within a broader narrative about AI and societal transformation. Drawing parallels between today’s artificial intelligence boom and the dot-com bubble of the early 2000s, he urged optimism despite speculative excess.

“We should be extremely optimistic that the societal and beneficial consequences of AI—like we had with the internet 25 years ago—are for real and there to stay,” he said. “It’s important to separate potential bubbles from the actual underlying reality.”

Bezos emphasized that AI’s impact will be “broadly diffused” across industries and societies, suggesting that the technology’s true promise lies not in isolated breakthroughs but in its global, everyday applications.

His comments add weight to the emerging idea that space infrastructure could become the next great frontier of the digital economy, where data, energy, and AI converge far above Earth’s atmosphere.

Atmos Space Cargo’s Phoenix Capsule to Undergo First Orbital Test on SpaceX Mission

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Atmos Space Cargo, a Germany-based company, is preparing to test its innovative cargo-return technology with the upcoming SpaceX Bandwagon 3 rideshare mission. Set to launch no earlier than April, the mission will carry Atmos’ Phoenix capsule into space for its first orbital test. Designed to safely return high-value materials from orbit, particularly biomedical samples, the Phoenix capsule aims to address the growing need for efficient and secure cargo retrieval in space. The mission will focus on collecting valuable data regarding the capsule’s subsystems, its onboard payloads, and its ability to handle reentry into Earth’s atmosphere.

The Phoenix capsule will carry a variety of scientific payloads, with notable items including a radiation detector developed by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and a bioreactor from the UK-based Frontier Space. The key objectives of the mission are to test the Phoenix capsule’s in-orbit performance, evaluate customer experiments, and assess the functionality of its inflatable atmospheric decelerator (IAD). This innovative technology, which combines the functions of both a heat shield and a parachute, will help ensure a controlled reentry, enabling the capsule to return to Earth safely after completing its mission.

Returning cargo from space presents numerous challenges, despite the significant advancements in space exploration and launch technologies. Experts point out that while the costs of launching experiments into space have been decreasing, bringing these payloads back to Earth continues to be an expensive and technically demanding task. Long turnaround times, high costs, and the risk of payload damage during reentry further complicate the process. Atmos Space Cargo, with its Phoenix capsule, aims to overcome these hurdles by providing a more affordable and reliable solution for returning sensitive materials, such as biomedical samples and materials produced in microgravity environments.

By developing a cost-effective cargo-return system, Atmos Space Cargo is positioning Phoenix as an important tool for industries that rely on space-based research and experimentation. The successful deployment of this technology could lead to broader applications in fields like medicine, manufacturing, and materials science, where returning critical samples and products from space is crucial. The upcoming mission will be an important milestone in proving the capsule’s capabilities and its potential for future space missions.