Europe moves forward with feasibility study for orbiting datacenters

The Thales Alenia Space joint venture has taken another promising step in the feasibility study of datacenters deployed in space. The project is part of the ASCEND (Advanced Space Cloud for European Net Zero Emission and Data Sovereignty) initiative launched in 2023 and funded by the European Commission to achieve the goal of net zero carbon by 2050 and transform the digital ecosystem and space in the European region.

The aim of ASCEND’s study is to compare the environmental impacts of datacenters based in space and on the Earth’s surface. In addition, the work aims to validate the technological feasibility of developing, deploying and operating datacenters in orbit.

When analysing the reduction in^CO2 emissions generated by processing and storing digital data in datacenters, the results estimated that such space infrastructures would require the development of a launcher that is 10 times less emissive over its entire life cycle. In addition, datacenters would not require water for cooling, a key advantage in times of increasing water supply limitations.

“The results of the ASCEND study confirm that the deployment of datacenters in space could transform Europe’s digital landscape by offering a greener and more sovereign solution for data storage and processing. We are proud to contribute to an initiative that can help achieve the goal of zero net carbon and strengthen Europe’s technological sovereignty,” says Christophe Valorge, Technical Director at Thales Alenia Space.

Reducing the energy and environmental impacts of datacenters could stimulate investment, within the framework of the European Union’s Green Deal, in the development of a high-capacity, eco-designed and reusable launcher. ASCEND has validated the feasibility of a launcher capable of carrying out multiple launches and thus mitigating its carbon footprint.

Modular space infrastructures could be assembled in orbit using robotic technologies from the European Commission’s EROSS IOD (European Robotic Orbital Support Services In Orbit Demonstrator), led by Thales Alenia Space and scheduled to carry out its first mission in 2026. This would allow Europe to regain its leadership in transport, space logistics and the assembly of large infrastructures in orbit, according to the study’s assessments.

Digital sovereignty

The ASCEND project can also contribute to Europe’s digital sovereignty by reducing its digital carbon footprint and guaranteeing data security for both citizens and companies. In addition, the intention is to guarantee one gigawatt of capacity before 2050 – the datacenter market is estimated at 23 gigawatts.

The results of the study also confirmed the economic viability of the project, showing a return on investment of several billion euros by 2050.

Thales Alenia Space and its partners now intend to continue the feasibility study in order to consolidate and optimise the results. At the same time, a paradigm shift in the space sector will be necessary if the project’s objectives are to be achieved, leveraging technologies that are within Europe’s reach.

Thales Alenia Space coordinates a European consortium of partners with complementary expertise in the areas of the environment (Carbone 4, VITO), cloud computing (Orange Business, CloudFerro, Hewlett Packard Enterprise), space launch companies (ArianeGroup) and orbital systems (German space agency DLR, Airbus Defence & Space and Thales Alenia Space).

Japanese and lunar initiatives

In May 2021, Japan’s NTT Corporation and SKY Perfect JSAT announced a co-operation to create a new space sector company, Space Compass, with the mission of building a new IT and telecommunications infrastructure in space.

The space infrastructure integrates several high-altitude orbits, low-Earth orbits and geostationary orbits. It is connected to the ground by optical wireless communication networks to form a constellation, with distributed datacenters to ensure high performance.

There are those who go further. Lonestar Data Holdings announced in April its second flight to the Moon called Freedom Payload, scheduled for the end of this year. The mission is intended to follow Lonestar’s successful test mission, Independence, carried out last February 15 to validate the concept of lunar datacenters used in cases of disaster recovery, operating perfectly both in cislunar space and on the lunar surface.

The future Freedom Payload mission will provide global backup, update and restore services, establishing the first physical datacenter on the Moon. The hardware uses Microchip’s RISC V processor and a specialised version of the Linux system.