Elon Musk is either the dumbest High Tech CEO, or the most Blatant and Rapacious Grifter...

Don't forget the AI Infrastructure will change over time...and lifetimes are shorter in Space than on Earth, so System Costs will increase even more up there...

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AI Overview

Building an AI data center in space is estimated to cost 3 to 100 times more than building an equivalent facility on Earth, depending on the scale, launch prices, and assumptions used. [1, 2]

Cost Comparisons by Estimate

• Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Estimate: Orbital data centers carry a 2.5x to 3x cost premiumtoday, which may narrow to about 1.5x over the next decade as technology improves. [1]
• IEEE Spectrum / Industry Baselines: A 1-gigawatt orbital site is estimated at over $50 billioncompared to roughly $16 billion on the ground (around 3x higher). [1]
• Google Energy Estimates: Google energy executives state that space data centers can cost up to 100 times more than terrestrial ones under current economic conditions, citing extreme launch and operational hurdles. [1]
• SemiAnalysis Building Block Analysis: A small AI server "building block" costs about $100,925 per month in space compared to $27,724 per month on Earth, largely driven by launch expenses and a shorter asset lifespan in orbit (5 years vs. 15 years on Earth). [1]

Why Space Data Centers Cost More

• Launch Expenses: Lifting heavy AI hardware, specialized shielding, and massive copper/semiconductor arrays into orbit remains expensive, though proponents argue reusable rockets (like Starship) could eventually lower per-kilogram costs. [1, 2]
• Shorter Hardware Lifespan: Equipment in space faces harsh radiation, thermal swings, and difficult maintenance, leading to a much faster replacement cycle than ground-based servers. [1, 2]
• Cooling and Infrastructure: Rejection of massive thermal loads from high-density AI chips requires huge deployable radiators in a vacuum rather than traditional water or air cooling on Earth. [1]

The Counterargument

Some industry voices (including groups like SpaceX) argue that space-based facilities could eventually become competitive or cheaper if terrestrial permitting delays and power bottlenecks become severe enough, or if launch costs drop below $200 per kilogram. You can review further breakdowns via the Boston Consulting Group Report and Tech-Insider Analysis.

The Physics of Heat Dissipation/Transfer in Space doesn't change, whether Elon Musk or Google is trying to build a Datacenter there...once again, watch the video and read the APS Summary on this topic. Bottom Line:...It's a Waste of Money and Resources to build AI Datacenters in Space, as opposed to doing so on Earth. Only someone who makes and launches Rockets would even Dream of putting them in Space...(Get the Hint???) ;-)...Another way of thinking about it..."Could you do it?...yes...Should you do it?...NOOOOOO! ;-)

Btw, here's a portion of the Wikipedia page for Datacenters in Space...same story...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space-based_data_center

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Disadvantages

The deployment of space-based data centers raises several technical, economic, and environmental concerns.

·       Existing launch costs are substantial and remain the main cost of space infrastructure deployment

·       Cooling is limited to heat dissipation through radiation only. This is inefficient compared to convection used in terrestrial data centers

·       Space infrastructure must be designed to survive launch and to work under environment conditions of radiation, wide range of temperatures, in vacuum and in microgravity

·       In-space assembly is in an early development stage to enable deployment of mega-structures

·       Megastructures are particularly exposed to orbital debris

·       Solar arrays efficiency decrease 0.5% to 0.8% per year due to exposure of ultraviolet rays, space weathering and orbital thermal cycles[20]

·       Hardware is designed for limited lifespan[21]

·       Maintenance and repair in space, known as on-orbit servicing (OOS), is still in an early stage of practical implementation[22][23]

·       Disposable data centre: technology obsolescence of AI data centre being a concern and difficult maintenance in space imply the single-use purpose of those space data centres[citation needed]

·       To extend lifetime, space infrastructure will require either refueling or orbit raise by the servicer, which would increase its operational costs

·       Sun-synchronous orbit is a limited resource and proper management and sharing of it is required[24]

·       The environmental impact on Earth has its own challenges

·       The environmental impact of launches need to be addressed[25][26]

·       Deployment consumes Earth resources that cannot be recovered or recycled; computers require many resources, some of which are strategic and recycling e-waste is already a challenge on Earth and extremely unlikely in space[27]

·       Space debris (orbit pollution) is another sustainability challenge for space

·       Orbits are, like any resource, a limited physical and electromagnetic resource and available for all mankind; the accumulation of satellites on a particular orbit reduces the use of space for other purposes[28]

·       A consequence of the increase of satellites in orbit is a higher risk of the runaway of space debris (see Kessler syndrome) which means some orbits could become unusable[29][30][31]

·       Latency and bandwidth are constrained in space, and consume limited electromagnetic resources

·       Satellite flares could inhibit ground-based and space-based observational astronomy[32]