Europe risks falling behind in the race to place data centres in space, unless it creates an immediate roadmap to deploy them, according to a report.
The European Space Policy Institute (ESPI) published an analysis of space-based data centres and said if Europe does not act now, the bloc risks missing out on a “significant and emerging” opportunity for the bloc’s digital and space industries.
The report estimates the industry is expected to skyrocket to approximately €535 billion by 2030. But it warned, to stay ahead, Europe needs to develop a plan.
“Europe has world-class space technology and strong institutions… the question is whether we’ll use them to lead this revolution or watch others define the future of computing,” said Jermaine Gutierrez, lead author of the report.
Data centres are the facilities that house the computing hardware used to train and power generative artificial intelligence (AI).
What are the advantages of sending data centres into space?
In 2024, the European Commission and aerospace company Thales studied the feasibility of sending European data centres to space.
It found that space-based data centres could “transform the European digital landscape,” since they offer a more eco-friendly and sovereign way for the bloc to provide the data that AI companies need for their models than terrestrial models.
The studyfound that data centres powered by solar energy in space could significantly decrease the carbon footprint associated with running the systems on the ground.
These data centres would not be reliant on water to cool them, unlike land-based data centres.Thales said the decision makes financial sense too, with a potential “return of investment of several billion euros” by 2050.
To meet its emissions targets, the 2024 report recommended that Europe build a launcher with reduced emissions over its entire lifecycle.
What should Europe’s approach be?
The ESPI report authors urged Europe to use some of its current funding projects, such as the In-Orbit Demonstration / In-Orbit Validation and the European Space Agency’s General Support Technology Programme (GSTP), as “test beds” for new technologies.
The European programme is a research project that supports companies with launch services and operations costs to test new technologies in orbit.
On the other hand, the ESA’s GSTP project takes engineering concepts and turns them into products that can be tested in future missions.
The agency markets the GSTP as “one of the best instruments in the ESA to help assure Europe’s competitiveness in the global market,” and keeps it at the forefront of technological innovation.
The authors also hope the EU introduces a European initiative that will have a clear roadmap for how data centres can start being commercially deployed.
Significant challenges remain
There will still be significant challenges for European businesses to solve before the first data centre is launched into space, the report said.
According to American think tank The Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the least expensive mission to launch per kilogram is SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket at an estimated $1,500 (€1,298) per kilogram.
For that cost, the rocket would send a payload to low Earth orbit (LEO) altitudes that are under 2,000 kilometres away from the Earth.
The launches would have to come under $400 (€346.32) per kilogram to become financially viable, the ESPI report said.
SpaceX founder Elon Musk said in 2020 that the marginal cost of his Starship launcher would be less than $1 million (€865,000) per mission for more than 100 tonnes to orbit, or $10 (€8.65) per kilogram.
Unless Starship is able to meet its promises, the report said that the advantages of a space-based data centre would be significantly diminished.
European companies working on space-based data centres will also have to figure out how to keep the systems cool since water will not be used.
Another issue will be how to conduct maintenance missions to the data centres while they are in orbit.
Europe’s aerospace and technology industries will “excel at solving” these problems to get data centres into orbit, the ESPI report said.
