The great data center space race
Wed Feb 04 2026
Data centers needed more space, so they literally moved there.
This week, Elon Musk announced he has merged his rocket company, Space X – with his AI company, xAI. The reason? He wants to build AI data centers in space.
But his company is not the only one that wants to take the cloud... off the planet. Various companies from Google to Blue Origin to smaller startups are looking to Earth's orbit as the next data center frontier. And companies in Seattle are leading the charge.
Today, how close are we to actually putting data centers in space? And why would you want to? GUEST:Dr. Saadia Pekkanen, professor of Law, International Studies and Political Science at the University of Washington
Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/boomingnotes.
Coming up: Have you been laid off from a tech company in the last couple of years? We'd love to hear from you. Give us a call at (206) 221-7158 and leave a voicemail with your hacks-- it could be featured on an upcoming episode. You can also email us at booming@kuow.org.
Booming is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. Our editor is Carol Smith. Our producers are Lucy Soucek and Alec Cowan. Our hosts are Joshua McNichols and Monica Nickelsburg.
Support the show: https://kuow.org/donate
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Data centers needed more space, so they literally moved there. This week, Elon Musk announced he has merged his rocket company, Space X – with his AI company, xAI. The reason? He wants to build AI data centers in space. But his company is not the only one that wants to take the cloud... off the planet. Various companies from Google to Blue Origin to smaller startups are looking to Earth's orbit as the next data center frontier. And companies in Seattle are leading the charge. Today, how close are we to actually putting data centers in space? And why would you want to? GUEST:Dr. Saadia Pekkanen, professor of Law, International Studies and Political Science at the University of Washington Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/boomingnotes. Coming up: Have you been laid off from a tech company in the last couple of years? We'd love to hear from you. Give us a call at (206) 221-7158 and leave a voicemail with your hacks-- it could be featured on an upcoming episode. You can also email us at booming@kuow.org. Booming is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. Our editor is Carol Smith. Our producers are Lucy Soucek and Alec Cowan. Our hosts are Joshua McNichols and Monica Nickelsburg. Support the show: https://kuow.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.