--- title: "The Type of Orbital Data Centers That Billionaires Want to Launch Into Space Would Wreak Ecological Catastrophe, Scientists Warn" description: "A group of concerned environmental groups has issued a formal petition calling on the FCC to investigate orbital data centers." date: "2026-07-27" modified: "2026-07-27" authors: - name: "Joe Wilkins" job_title: "Correspondent" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jwilkins" url: "https://futurism.com/space/orbital-data-centers-billionaires-ecological-catastrophe-petition" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "Blue Origin" - "Computing" - "Elon Musk" - "Environment" - "Finance" - "Future Society" - "Health & Medicine" - "Jeff Bezos" - "Pollution" - "Robots and Machines" - "Science & Energy" - "Space" - "SpaceX" - "The Industrialists" --- # The Type of Orbital Data Centers That Billionaires Want to Launch Into Space Would Wreak Ecological Catastrophe, Scientists Warn ![A rendering of the Gigasat, a giant AI data center satellite proposed by SpaceX.]() *SpaceX* Over the past year or so, a puzzling idea has taken hold among billionaires ranging from Elon Musk to Jeff Bezos: that instead of trying to force data centers on communities that don't want them down on Earth, it would be much easier just to launch them into space. The [economics]() and [logistics]() of the scheme, many experts have pointed out, are absolutely absurd. And even beyond those practical concerns, if corporations actually did somehow manage to fill the planet's orbit with the facilities, scientists are now warning that the environmental cost would be devastating. A [new petition]() organized by the group EarthJustice, first reported [by the *Guardian*](), is warning of "catastrophic" consequences for the planet if the billionaire-backed dream ever came to pass. The 29-page petition calls on the US Federal Communications Commission to investigate current orbital data center licensing requests as potentially in violation of "federal law," joining the [chorus of experts]() warning that it's a horrible idea for just about everybody. "The FCC is currently considering multiple requests for licensing extraordinary numbers of satellite-based data centers to be placed into low-earth orbit over the next decade," the petition begins. "The proponents of these proposals describe their plans in grandiose, civilization-changing terms. But these same proponents have refused to embrace any inquiry into the impacts of their self claimed epochal technology on the environment, science, economy, or other values. This is not just poor planning and a missed opportunity: it violates federal law." The filing does double duty. On top of formally petitioning the FCC to prepare an [environmental assessment](), it's also a "petition to deny," which is a legal mechanism that requires the petitioner to back up their claims with verified facts. That requirement turns the document into a *de facto* [review article]() — with 113 footnote citations, it's easily one of the most detailed public accounts yet of what orbital data centers could actually cost the planet. "The operation of more than a million data center satellites threatens potentially catastrophic forms and quantities of atmospheric pollution, risking damage to the climate, to the ozone layer, to human health, and to the chemistry of the stratosphere itself," the petition reads. In particular, the petition warns that giving free rein to tech billionaires to clutter our skies with experimental data centers would accelerate our contamination of the stratosphere, which is currently facing an [unprecedented rise]() in heavy metals, noxious gasses, and carbon particles thanks to record satellite launches. Satellite companies run by tech and aerospace tycoons are already [facing scrutiny]() for their lack of transparency around this type of pollution, a situation the petition warns would make significantly worse. As the petition authors write, they are "concerned that no \[company\] has yet provided more than a token acknowledgment of environmental risks." "Moreover," the authors continue, "no \[company\] has provided satisfactory detail to explain how it will mitigate the cumulative environmental harms flowing from the foreseeable operation of more than a *million* satellites \[emphasis in original\], orbiting our planet, colliding and disintegrating and plummeting back to Earth." **More on data centers:** *[Climate Activists Pelt Microsoft Data Center With Balloons Full of Acid]()* ## Author At Futurism, I focus on the intersection of technology and power — examining the economics, history, and politics behind today’s dystopian headlines. As a writer, I’m interested in topics ranging from AI’s impact on labor to startups nobody asked for. My prior work includes bylines in Jacobin, Verso, and Blue Labyrinths. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Forbes, The Guardian, MIT Technology Review, Time, The Nation, Mother Jones, The Verge, and Wired. I grew up in Michigan, attending Central Michigan University as well as Ball State University, where I earned a master of music. I now live in Brooklyn with my girlfriend and our cat Ziti. On weekends, you can find me hunched over a cold pint arguing geopolitics with the other transplants. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()