Blue Origin explores new space tech as it tests concepts for orbital data hubs

Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk’s rivalry has stretched across a decade, and now it has taken a futuristic turn. 

According to the Wall Street Journal, Blue Origin has spent more than a year quietly developing technology required for advanced AI data hubs in orbit, an effort its insiders noted could redefine how computing power is delivered in space.

Meanwhile, SpaceX is plotting its own leap forward. Musk’s space company plans to use an upgraded generation of Starlink satellites to carry AI computing payloads, pitching the concept as part of a share sale that could value SpaceX at nearly $800 billion. 

The development comes at a time when demand for orbital data centres has surged as Earth-based data facilities strain power and water resources. 

Bezos has repeatedly argued that future gigawatt-scale data centres will naturally shift to space thanks to unlimited solar energy, no weather disruptions, and 24/7 power availability.

"We will be able to beat the cost of terrestrial data centres in space in the next couple of decades," Bezos said at the time. "These giant training clusters ... will be better built in space, because we have solar power there, 24/7. There are no clouds and no rain, no weather," Bezos stated.

As both Blue Origin and SpaceX accelerate space-computing experiments, the long-running Bezos-Musk competition is once again steering the next chapter of off-planet technology.