US company Rendezvous Robotics has announced its readiness to assist in building the first megacompasses in Earth orbit. More and more companies are now exploring the idea of migrating high-energy-consuming data centers to space, where solar energy is available around the clock.
The project's partner is Starcloud, which plans to collaborate with NVIDIA to build a 5-gigawatt orbital data center. Its "solar and cooling panels" will measure 4 kilometers in length and width—a massive scale even by space standards.
In comparison, the International Space Station's solar panels generate only 240 kilowatts of power, a mere 0.005% of Starcloud's nominal capacity. These autonomous modules, each with its own independent batteries, processors, and electromagnetic control systems, can connect independently and assemble into structures of the required size.
The project will enable dozens of modules to be mounted on rockets and deployed into space without astronaut involvement. The next round of testing of the system is expected to take place as early as 2026 on the International Space Station.
