Tag:Outer Space Treaty
The New Space Race: Data Centers in Orbit
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.
Roadside Service in the Final Frontier: The Compliance Void in On-Orbit Servicing
In 2024, a Japanese commercial satellite maneuvered to within 15 meters of a derelict piece of debris floating in low Earth orbit, a feat never accomplished by a private company – until now. Astroscale Holdings, operating under a contract with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), executed a precise series of approach maneuvers around a completely unresponsive object. This was a genuine technological milestone in the commercial space industry, and just a preview of an entire industry that existing legal frameworks were not built to govern or foresee.