Camden Westendorf

Associate Editor

Loyola University Chicago School of Law, JD 2028

Data centers have taken up permanent residence both around the world and in the news. Nearly 4,000 data centers exist throughout the United States, consuming a staggering 312.6 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2025 alone. For context, one TWh can power 90,000 homes annually. Despite their expansion across the U.S., data centers are highly controversial. As data centers continue to appear throughout the country and expend exorbitant amounts of energy, tech giants, including Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Sam Altman, have begun brainstorming an extraterrestrial alternative: launch networks of data centers into low orbit. At the current moment, an incomplete patchwork of federal regulations and international treaties govern the development and execution of orbital data centers. Together, the international community must work to establish a clear set of regulatory guidelines that ensure the environment is safeguarded from social, environmental, and geopolitical degradation.

The sky is the limit, but environmental concerns linger

In November 2025, Google announced Project Suncatcher, a first of its’ kind AI satellite system. On October 1, 2026, it was launched into orbit. Google engineers allege that solar panels attached to orbital satellites can capture energy from the sun and power specialized chips, called tensor processing units (TPUs), to answer AI queries without the need to utilize exhaustible resources from Earth. However, the existing satellites only allow for limited server space. For example, the Project Suncatcher prototype is equipped with only one data server that answers simple AI prompts. Eventually, Google hopes to scale the network of satellites to create a massive fleet of TPU-equipped units that can alleviate the energy that data centers consume around the world. By creating an interplanetary network of AI servers, proponents of the idea argue that the uninterrupted solar energy, combined with the available space in Earth’s atmosphere, will allow data giants to maximize AI efficiency without taking up space or energy from Earth.

On Earth, data centers circulate massive amounts of publicly shared water to prevent internal structures from overheating. In some instances, chemically treated water used by data centers is released back into nature, which can detrimentally impact downstream aquatic ecosystems, biodiversity, and fresh water. Since water and atmospheric air are not naturally available in the vacuum of space, classic methods of using such elements to cool data centers are unavailable. To mitigate these problems, engineers have proposed solutions such as the incorporation of radiative cooling processes into the servers, which could allow the units to dispel heat waste into space.

In the context of the environmental, economic, and physical limits that earthside data centers face, the idea of launching a technologically advanced network of compact satellites into space, on its face, seems alluring. But what atmospheric dangers arise with launching such satellite networks into low Earth orbit? For one, there is an increased risk of collision between communication satellites and data processing satellites. Additionally, scientists warn that by increasing rocket launches and landings, threats of releasing harmful chemicals may weaken the slowly-healing ozone layer, which could accelerate global warming.

The current regulation of orbital data centers

There is no unified regulatory body governing the implementation and use of AI-data centers in space. Rather, a medley of international treaties, organizations, and federal bodies make up a complex scheme of regulations that those in the AI space race must adhere to. In the United States, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) governs the launch and reentry of orbital objects, and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulates radio communications between satellites and their control centers on Earth.

In January, February, and March 2026, the FCC received applications from SpaceX, Starcloud, and Blue Origin for authorization to launch orbital networks ranging from 50,000 to 100,000 individual satellites. While the FCC has begun tentatively granting applications, environmental advocates remain wary of the environmental implications of a massive network of data centers. Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), DarkSky International, and Environmental America formally petitioned the FCC to conduct a thorough compliance audit under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The petition called upon the FCC to pause granting licenses for orbital data centers until all potential environmental risks to Earth’s atmosphere and exosphere have been analyzed.

An international call to action

While the patchwork of regulations surrounding orbital data centers remains incipient, governments across the world should begin to collaborate on the design of a comprehensive framework to protect and preserve the integrity of space and Earth. It should be noted that Article VI of the Outer Space Treaty of 1967 actually imposes an international responsibility on all nations to regulate national and private activities in space. However, the emergence of cutting-edge technology since the Treaty’s enactment requires the international community to adopt additional guardrails to limit the exploitation of space. At the present moment, the global society remains at a crossroads regarding who and what can regulate unprecedented orbital activities. By establishing an internationally binding, thorough framework to regulate the actions of nations participating in the AI space race, international regulatory bodies will preserve the most valuable, exhaustible resources known to mankind–­our Earth, and the space it occupies.