Rockets Are Short? Cowboy Space Aims to Build Its Own to Power AI Data Centers in Orbit
With the increasing demand for AI compute, space data centers are becoming a new frontier. However, launching rockets remains scarce and expensive. Enter Cowboy Space, aiming to launch its first rocket by 2028.
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The insatiable hunger for artificial intelligence (AI) computing power is pushing tech giants to explore unconventional solutions—space-based data centers. But the key challenge lies in launching enough rockets to make these plans feasible.
Enter Cowboy Space Corporation, a startup co-founded by Baiju Bhatt, the former CEO of Robinhood. In a bold move, they're not just looking for rides on existing rockets but are planning to build their own. Today, they announced raising $275 million in a Series B round, bringing their valuation to $2 billion.
The Need for Rockets
Most data center entrepreneurs hope that rockets like SpaceX's Starship and Blue Origin's New Glenn will solve the launch capacity issue. However, both vehicles are years away from commercial availability due to internal commitments and development challenges.
Bhatt told TechCrunch, 'We’re standing up our own rocket program.' The company is set to launch its first rocket before the end of 2028. This decision comes after realizing that existing launch providers couldn't offer enough capacity for their orbital data center business to compete with terrestrial alternatives.
Why Build Their Own Rockets?
Beyond the scarcity and high cost, building rockets in-house allows Cowboy Space to focus on a single market: data centers. Typically, rocket stages separate into two parts—the first stage for reaching space and the second for delivering payloads.
Cowboy Space plans to integrate their data centers directly into this second stage. This approach aims to simplify the design process and potentially reduce costs. Each satellite will weigh between 20,000 to 25,000 kilograms and host nearly 800 GPUs, generating about 1 MW of power.
While the rocket would be slightly more powerful than SpaceX's Falcon 9 but smaller than Starship, Bhatt envisions reusing the booster in the future. The company has hired veterans from leading space companies like Blue Origin and SpaceX to spearhead their efforts.
A New Mission
The new name, 'Cowboy Space Corporation,' reflects a mission to 'power humanity from the high frontier.' Bhatt’s unique design choices and focus on a single market position Cowboy Space for success in this competitive space.
