AI1 Power Budget: Why Solar in Orbit Beats Terrestrial Grids
AI1 orbital data centres get 24/7 sun and don't need cooling water. Here is the power-budget math that drives the entire thesis.
Insolation gain vs Earth
~2×
Cooling water needed
0
Power cost vs grid
Modelled <50%
The numbers that drive the case
A solar panel in LEO sees roughly twice the average insolation of an equivalent panel on Earth: no clouds, no night during dawn-dusk orbits, no atmospheric scattering. Combined with passive radiative cooling to deep space — which is approximately free at scale — the result is a power-and-cooling cost stack that is materially below terrestrial hyperscaler infrastructure.
Modelled all-in cost per kilowatt-hour delivered to an AI1 compute node lands below 50% of US hyperscaler grid+water+cooling costs at scale. The capex bridge is launching the array — which is exactly what Starship V3 is built to do.
Key takeaways
- LEO insolation is ~2× ground average — solar is structurally better in orbit
- Passive radiative cooling eliminates the water-and-chiller cost stack
- All-in modelled power cost is <50% of hyperscaler grid+cooling
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