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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsEric Schmidt reportedly took a controlling stake in Relativity Space and became its CEO, and his reported response to a suggestion that he was interested in orbital data centers supports that interpretation. But that is not the same as a publicly announced, funded project: Relativity has not disclosed a data-center design, customer, launch schedule, or financing plan. Its documented business remains rocket development and launch services.
What happened to Relativity Space?
The word “bought” compresses several reported developments. Bloomberg reported on January 9, 2025, that Schmidt had made a significant investment in Relativity and had backed the company since 2024; the report did not state the amount or precise ownership share. In March 2025, Axios reported that Schmidt had acquired a controlling stake and become CEO. Those accounts describe an investor taking control, not a documented purchase of the entire company.
Relativity co-founder Tim Ellis reportedly left the CEO role while remaining involved with the board, according to Ars Technica’s Relativity Space coverage. The transaction and leadership claims are based on reporting; the available public record cited here does not establish the purchase price or full ownership structure. See Bloomberg’s January 2025 report and Axios’s March 2025 report.
Why did orbital data centers become the explanation?
At an April 2025 congressional hearing, Schmidt discussed the scale of electricity demand associated with AI data centers. Ars Technica reported his comments about companies planning facilities requiring as much as 10 gigawatts, along with estimates of substantial additional generation needs by 2027 and 2030. These are Schmidt’s remarks and cited estimates, not settled forecasts.
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After the hearing, Ars space editor Eric Berger suggested on X that the power problem might explain Schmidt’s acquisition of Relativity. Schmidt reportedly replied “Yes.” That is meaningful evidence that orbital computing was of interest to him, but it does not disclose a business plan or prove that data centers were the sole or primary reason for the investment. It also does not show that Relativity had begun building them. The hearing comments and reported reply are recounted in Ars Technica’s account.
What is confirmed, inferred, and still unknown?
| Question | What the available evidence establishes |
|---|---|
| Did Schmidt invest in Relativity? | Yes. Bloomberg reported a significant investment and backing dating to 2024; it did not disclose the amount or exact ownership share. Bloomberg |
| Did he take control and become CEO? | Axios reported in March 2025 that he acquired a controlling stake and became CEO. This is a reported control transaction, not evidence that he bought the whole company. Axios |
| Is he interested in orbital data centers? | His reported “Yes” response to Berger’s interpretation strongly suggests interest, but is not a detailed announcement or commitment. Ars Technica |
| Has Relativity published an orbital-data-center design or named a customer? | No such design or customer is established in the company materials and reporting cited here. |
| What is Relativity publicly working toward? | Terran R development and launch services, including a multi-launch agreement with SES. SES’s November 2025 announcement planned a first Terran R launch for late 2026; that was a target, not a completed launch. SES |
A 2026 announcement by Planet Ventures, a third-party investor, said Relativity was exploring orbital data centers. That statement adds to the evidence of interest, but it is not a Relativity technical announcement and does not establish a funded program, hardware, or customer. Planet Ventures’ announcement should therefore be read as an investor’s characterization, not proof of an operating product.
Why would a rocket company matter to orbital computing?
A large launch vehicle could give an owner greater control over access to orbit for heavy infrastructure. Relativity describes Terran R as a partially reusable medium-to-heavy-lift rocket. Ars reported projected payload capacities of 33.5 metric tons to low Earth orbit in expendable mode and 23.5 metric tons with a reusable first stage. Those figures are vehicle-performance claims, not demonstrated service: Terran R has not yet established operational orbital launch capability.
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SES’s announcement tied the rocket to commercial satellite deployment and placed its first launch target in late 2026. The agreement provides evidence of a launch-services business, not an orbital-compute order. Relativity’s public updates page likewise documents company activity, but the cited public materials do not establish orbital computing as its main operating focus.
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Some parts of the idea are plausible in principle, but the relevant comparison is the full cost and performance of compute delivered to a customer—not sunlight in space versus electricity on Earth. An orbital system must generate and condition power, reject waste heat, survive radiation, communicate data, replace aging hardware, and manage its orbit. Each requirement adds mass, complexity, or operating cost.
Power: abundant sunlight is not the same as usable power
Solar arrays could generate electricity in orbit, but a useful installation would also need power conditioning, structural support, deployment hardware, and protection against radiation and thermal cycling. In low Earth orbit, a spacecraft can pass through eclipse periods, so sustained output may require energy storage or another way to bridge those periods. Large terrestrial AI facilities can demand hundreds of megawatts or more; the concept should not be treated as an immediate orbital substitute for a 1–10-gigawatt data center.
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Heat: vacuum does not provide free cooling
In vacuum, there is no surrounding air to carry heat away by convection. Equipment must conduct heat to radiators, which then shed it as infrared radiation. As compute power rises, radiator capacity and area must rise too. Radiators bring mass, deployment and structural challenges, and their performance depends on temperature, emissivity, geometry, sunlight, and Earth’s infrared environment. Space offers a route for radiative heat rejection, not effortless cooling.
Radiation and reliability
Energetic particles can cause single-event errors, damage components over time, and degrade memory and processors. Solar storms add risk, while repairs are difficult or impossible unless a servicing system is built into the plan. A viable installation would need some combination of radiation-tolerant parts, shielding, redundancy, error correction, and remote recovery—each of which affects weight, reliability, and cost.
Communications and the location of the workload
Moving data between Earth and orbit can erase the value of doing the computation there. Orbital processing is more naturally suited to workloads whose data already originates in space or whose results can be sent down selectively, such as satellite imagery, sensor data, satellite coordination, or space-domain awareness. By contrast, interactive cloud services and large AI training pipelines typically depend on extensive terrestrial data movement and dependable links. The first question is whether the data and the needed result are in space or on Earth.
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Hardware replacement, debris, and servicing
AI accelerators can become outdated quickly. Any operator would need a credible plan for upgrades, replacement launches, remote servicing or a short hardware life followed by disposal. A constellation would also have to address collision risk, orbital congestion, end-of-life disposal, spectrum coordination, and possible interference with astronomy and other satellites. These obligations remain even if launch costs fall.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Which use cases are most plausible?
Processing data in space is a more direct fit than recreating a hyperscale cloud campus above Earth. If imagery or measurements are produced by satellites, some processing could happen before transmission, potentially reducing the amount of raw data sent to the ground. Satellite networks and government or defense users may also have space-based coordination needs. Whether those applications justify orbital infrastructure depends on paying customers, reliable links, power and thermal design, and lifecycle costs; the concept alone does not establish demand.
Replacing terrestrial data centers is a harder proposition. If a workload’s data, users, and required low-latency connections are on Earth, an orbital facility adds a space-to-ground communications path as well as launch, radiation protection, replacement, and disposal costs. The relevant measure is the cost per useful compute operation over the system’s life, not launch cost per kilogram alone.
What would show that this is a real project?
The orbital-data-center idea would move beyond reported interest if Relativity or a named partner disclosed concrete evidence such as:
- A first-party company announcement describing the program and its funding.
- A spacecraft or payload design with stated power, thermal, and communications architecture.
- A named customer, contracted use case, or funded demonstration mission.
- A launch manifest or payload agreement specifically for compute hardware.
- Regulatory filings or spectrum and debris plans tied to the system.
- A successful Terran R flight and evidence of a repeatable launch cadence.
Until then, the defensible reading is that Schmidt appears to be pursuing strategic optionality: control of a launch company that could support ambitious space infrastructure if the technology and economics mature. Orbital computing may be part of that vision, but Relativity’s public, documented business remains Terran R and launch services.
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