Eric Schmidt acquired space company Relativity Space to build data centers in space

Nearly two months ago, former Google CEO and billionaire Eric Schmidt acquired Relativity Space. Now his intentions are becoming clearer: he wants to be able to launch significant computing power into space to support the operation of large data centers, ArsTechnica reports.

This is evidenced by Schmidt’s testimony in April before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce, dedicated to the future of artificial intelligence and U.S. competitiveness. Among the topics discussed was the growing demand for electricity needed to power data centers that serve the computing needs of AI. According to Schmidt, the average American nuclear power plant produces about 1 gigawatt (GW) of power, while "some are planning data centers with a capacity of 10 GW."

"Gives you a sense of how big this crisis is," Schmidt noted. "Many people think that the energy demand for our industry will go from 3 percent to 99 percent of total generation. One of the estimates that I think is most likely is that data centers will require an additional 29 gigawatts of power by 2027, and 67 more gigawatts by 2030."

Artificial intelligence is indeed consuming enormous amounts of computing power—a single ChatGPT query requires about 10 times more energy than a Google search. At the same time, the U.S. energy industry is not prepared for such a surge in demand: over the past decade, annual growth in electricity consumption has been only about 0.5%.

After Schmidt's speech, one commenter on X suggested that the purchase of Relativity Space could be a step toward deploying data centers in space — where they could be outfitted with solar panels and cooled by radiating heat into the vacuum. Schmidt responded with a single word: "Yes."

There aren’t many companies in the US market that can launch large rockets on their own. SpaceX and Blue Origin are owned by other billionaires, United Launch Alliance already has a busy launch schedule, and Rocket Lab hasn’t yet offered a powerful enough rocket. Relativity Space, with its Terran R rocket, which can launch up to 33.5 tons into low-Earth orbit in a single launch (or 23.5 tons with a reusable first stage), currently looks like the most realistic choice.

"Solving the launch problem is just one of the challenges," says aerospace analyst Maria Gonzalez of Orbitech Consulting. "Schmidt will need to secure additional funding, organize orbital movement, develop space power systems and develop effective thermal control - all while proving the economic feasibility of space data centers."

Schmidt's personal fortune, estimated at around $20 billion, will not be enough to finance such an ambitious program. Industry sources say he is already looking for strategic partners to finance the next phase of Relativity's development.

The concept of orbital data centers has already been theoretically developed to use constant sunlight for power and the cold vacuum of space for passive cooling. It could ease the environmental pressure and reduce water consumption that ground-based data centers cause. However, technical, regulatory and economic obstacles remain.

"Data centers on Earth today account for about 3% of electricity generation," Schmidt said in his speech. "Many experts predict that this figure could rise to 99% if we allow it. Orbital deployment may be the only way to sustainably manage such explosive demand."

As Relativity Space accelerates development of the Terran R rocket under Schmidt's leadership, all eyes will be on the company's next launches – and whether orbital data centers will move from visionary promise to practical reality.