The Era of Orbital Edge Datacenters
Amazon Leo, Google TPUs, Starcloud, and more
There is a distinct shift in how the industry views the “air gap” beyond a security measure. There is now a literal gap of atmosphere between terrestrial problems and orbiting solutions. Focus has sharpened on the newest invisible infrastructure of datacenters in the sky.
The rebrand of Project Kuiper to become Amazon Leo has clever marketing implications that will support a new reality. With the new terminals preview, a form factor has emerged with a powerful opening connection performance target with an even more interesting architectural choice. That’s because the real appeal for the datacenter in the sky isn’t the speed… it’s the topology. Amazon Leo Private Networking solution allows data to move from a remote orbital node directly into a VPC without ever touching the public internet, effectively extending the datacenter fabric into Low Earth Orbit. For edge compute scenarios in energy, maritime sectors, and similarly unique vertical IIoT use cases, this “Direct to AWS” feature finally makes orbital technology a viable extension of the humble availability zone. Or, it means thinking about Amazon Local and the Amazon Located Above Your Head.
Of course, the public cloud is not only Amazon. So, while Amazon focuses on moving data through space, Google is doubling down on processing data in space. Google Project Suncatcher has moved ahead to deploy solar-powered satellites equipped with TPUs by 2027.
But wait… there’s more. NVIDIA backed Starcloud’s CEO is claiming that anything a terrestrial datacenter can do, the datacenter in the sky is coming to take some of those workloads. Meanwhile, Star Catcher, GE Vernova, and other companies are building the new energy backbone as part of the quest for GW datacenters here on Earth and eventually in space.
What to watch for next? Expect the first Amazon Leo speed tests to fundamentally transform the spatial and temporal limits of an AWS Well-Architected Framework that will eventually extend to 70% of the planetary surface.
🎧 Recommended listening: 2nd half of this Tech Brew Ride Home episode
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