Cowboy Space Raises $275M at $2B Valuation to Build Orbital AI Data Centers and Reusable Rockets
Tags AI · Infrastructure · Hardware
Space startup Cowboy Space (formerly Aetherflux) raised $275 million in Series B funding at a $2 billion valuation on May 11, 2026, led by Index Ventures with participation from NEA, IVP, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, and SAIC. Founded by former Robinhood co-founder Baiju Bhatt, the company pivoted from space-based solar power to orbital AI data centers after determining that launch costs were the primary bottleneck. Cowboy Space plans to build its rockets with the upper stage serving as the data center payload (1 MW per satellite, ~800 GPUs, 20-25 tons), and expects its first launch before end of 2028. The company has hired former Blue Origin and SpaceX engineers.
Technical significance
Cowboy Space represents the convergence of two major trends: the insatiable demand for AI compute and the commercialization of space infrastructure. The novel approach of making the rocket's upper stage the data center payload eliminates the mass penalty of separate launch and deployment. If successful, orbital data centers could bypass terrestrial constraints like power grid capacity, cooling water availability, and land use permits that are already limiting data center construction.