- Jeff Bezos said that while data centres could realistically exist in outer space, it may take longer than most people believe.
- The billionaire put forward his view on some of the timelines given for space data centres, including those by SpaceX chief Elon Musk.
- The Tesla owner had earlier predicted that the centres could be functional in two or three year
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has revealed what he thinks about the possibility of data centres in space. The billionaire said that while data centres could realistically exist in outer space, it may take longer than most people believe.
In an exclusive interview with CNBC, the Blue Origin founder put forward his view on some of the timelines given for space data centres, including those by SpaceX chief Elon Musk. The Tesla owner had earlier predicted that the centres could be functional in two or three years. However, Bezos feels the timeline is “a little ambitious.”
Jeff Bezos told CNBC that the data centres are “very realistic” but “some of the timelines we hear are very short”. “People would talk about two or three years. That's probably a little ambitious.”
The billionaire also pointed out the barriers to these projects, focussing on chip costs as a big obstacle. Bezos stated that chip costs need to come down to make room for energy as a bigger portion of the centres' budgets. He also said that launch costs must get cheaper before the data centres to be built.
Space is being seen as the next frontier when it comes to data centres and tech moguls like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk have long propagated the initiative. In October, Bezos said that gigawatt-scale data centres will be constructed in space within the next 10 to 20 years, Reuters reported.
Speaking at the Italian Tech Week in Turin, the industrialist said that these centres would eventually be able to outperform those based on Earth due to the continuous availability of solar energy. "These giant training clusters, those will be better built in space, because we have solar power there, 24/7. There are no clouds and no rain, no weather," Bezos had predicted.
The Amazon founder is also taking steps to stay ahead in the race for space data centres. In March, Blue Origin submitted plans to the Federal Communications Commission for “Project Sunrise”, an initiative that aims to send 51,600 data center satellites into low Earth orbit.
The satellites would be supported by TeraWave, the company's planned constellation. Blue Origin has sought regulatory approval for TeraWave's launch and expects to start deploying it in the fourth quarter of 2027, as per CNBC.
