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Report: Google and SpaceX in talks to put data centers into orbit
In Brief Posted: 10:30 AM PDT · May 12, 2026 Image Credits:SpaceX (opens in a new window) Google and SpaceX are in talks to launch orbital data centers in space, reports The Wall Street Journal, citing sources familiar with the matter. The potential deal comes as SpaceX gears up for its $1.75 trillion IPO later this year, selling investors on the idea that data centers in space will be the cheapest place to put AI compute within the next few years. It also follows Anthropic’s deal with SpaceX last week to use computing resources from xAI’s data center in Memphis, Tennessee, with the potential to work together on orbital ones in the future. (SpaceX acquired xAI in February.) Google is reportedly talking to other rocket-launch companies as well. The company also plans to launch prototype satellites by 2027 as part of an initiative called Project Suncatcher, announced late last year. Elon Musk has created hype for orbital data centers, claiming they are cheaper to operate. Advocates also point out they are free from the local backlash that U.S. ground-based buildouts attract. However, as TechCrunch recently reported, today’s terrestrial data centers are much cheaper than those in orbit once satellite construction and launch costs are factored in. Google invested $900 million in SpaceX in 2015, according to regulatory filings. TechCrunch has reached out to Google and SpaceX for comment. Topics Subscribe for the industry’s biggest tech news Latest in AI
The War on Data Centers: Why the Backlash Is Justified and What Comes Next
The backlash against AI data centers is not just justified -- it is inevitable. Communities across the United States are waking up to the hidden costs they bear while tech corporations reap the profits. These centers are being shoved into residential areas, driving up electricity bills, stealing water, and flooding neighborhoods with noise and light pollution.The real agenda is profit and control, not progress. People are right to be furious. In Okeechobee County, Florida, a proposed $1.5 million data center campus was scrapped after unanimous opposition from local ranchers and residents, with the project receiving state funding that was ultimately rejected [1]. This is not NIMBYism; it is self-defense. As I have long argued, the corporate playbook is to privatize gains and socialize costs, and data centers are the latest example of this predatory model.Consumers are forced to subsidize data centers through higher utility rates, while their water pressure drops and property values plummet. A new poll conducted by Harvard political scientist Stephen Ansolabehere found only 40% of people supported building a data center in their area, while 32% opposed -- and more people would rather have an Amazon warehouse in their backyard [2]. Light and noise pollution rob families of sleep and peace, and water contamination from cooling systems is a documented health hazard.This is outright theft of local resources dressed up as economic development. A report by the International Energy Agency found that data centers drove half of all U.S. electricity growth in 2025 [3]. Residential utility bills rose 6% on average in August 2025 compared to the prior year, and in states with the highest concentration of data centers, prices surged up to 16% [4]. Mayors across the country are now sounding the alarm that these digital factories are pushing the U.S. toward blackouts and water shortages [5].Companies like Google use shell companies and NDAs to hide ownership and avoid public scrutiny -- betraying the very communities they claim to serve. They promise thousands of jobs, but the reality is a handful of maintenance positions, while the land is locked up for decades. In Festus, Missouri, four city council members were voted out of their positions just days after approving a controversial $6 billion data center project, despite massive public pushback [6]. City councils intimidated by corporate lawyers betray their constituents, and that betrayal fuels the anger I see emerging ...
Google and SpaceX are rumored to be in talks over AI data centers in ...
There's more movement on the data-centers-in-space front, as Google and SpaceX are apparently teaming up.
Google and SpaceX plan to build space-based data centers: Reports
Google and SpaceX negotiating launch deal for orbital data centers, reports claim As terrestrial data centers face increasing power grid constraints and local backlash, space-based computing is ...
