Cowboy Space Raises $275 Million to Build Rockets for Orbital Data Centers at $2 Billion Valuation
Updated
Updated · TechCrunch · May 11
Cowboy Space Raises $275 Million to Build Rockets for Orbital Data Centers at $2 Billion Valuation
1 articles · Updated · TechCrunch · May 11
$275 million in Series B funding will bankroll Cowboy Space’s plan to develop its own rockets, with CEO Baiju Bhatt targeting a first launch before the end of 2028.
Bhatt said the company turned to in-house launch after finding too little affordable rocket capacity to scale orbital data centers or make their economics competitive with terrestrial alternatives.
The startup, founded in 2024 as Aetherflux, pivoted from beaming solar power from space to running data centers in orbit, then rebranded as Cowboy Space as rocket development became central.
Its design would integrate data centers into the rocket’s second stage, aiming for satellites weighing 20,000 to 25,000 kilograms and producing 1 megawatt for just under 800 onboard GPUs.
The bet puts Cowboy Space up against SpaceX and Blue Origin in a market where reliable commercial launch providers remain scarce, even as AI-driven demand for compute keeps rising.
Can orbital data centers solve AI's energy crisis before becoming technologically obsolete?
Is the AI compute boom a real revolution or a funding mirage fueled by tech giants?
When data lives in orbit, who truly controls the off-switch?