The Blue Wave Has Tech Bros Scrambling for Data Centers in Space
The Blue Wave Has Tech Bros Scrambling for Data Centers in Space
A wave of Democratic candidates across the country—and notably in Texas, a national data center hotspot and home to Elon Musk’s SpaceX—won their state and congressional races on Tuesday, including many candidates who voiced opposition to the data center industry. The results have sent some corners of the tech industry looking to the heavens for answers.
在全国范围内，一股民主党候选人浪潮——特别是在作为全国数据中心热点地区且是埃隆·马斯克旗下 SpaceX 总部所在地的德克萨斯州——在周二赢得了州级和国会选举，其中许多候选人都曾表达过对数据中心行业的反对意见。选举结果促使科技行业的某些群体开始向天空寻求答案。
In recent hours, data center enthusiasts have proclaimed on social media that they’re still “bullish” on building data centers—just not necessarily in Texas, or even on Earth at all. Instead, they say, it’s time to focus on data centers in space.
在过去的几个小时里，数据中心的支持者们在社交媒体上宣称，他们仍然“看好”建设数据中心——只是不一定非要在德克萨斯州，甚至不一定非要在地球上。相反，他们认为，现在是时候将目光转向太空数据中心了。
Elon Musk—who sank more than $400 million of his fortune supporting Republican candidates who all went on to lose their midterms races—has been among those leading the charge. “Data centers in space looking pretty appealing right now,” Musk posted on X in the early hours of Wednesday, after it was clear that Democrats had taken the House and Senate.
埃隆·马斯克——他投入了超过 4 亿美元的个人财富支持共和党候选人，但这些候选人最终都在中期选举中落败——是此次转向太空的领军人物之一。在民主党明确拿下众议院和参议院控制权后的周三凌晨，马斯克在 X 上发帖称：“太空数据中心现在看起来相当有吸引力。”
Jordan Lasker—the man behind the X account “Crémieux,” which is a popular follow in the tech world, and known for posting race-based pseudoscience—also weighed in, saying, “Data centers in space are an incredible idea and anyone who doubted them didn’t think enough about tonight’s election results.”
X 账号“Crémieux”的幕后人物乔丹·拉斯克（Jordan Lasker）也发表了看法。该账号在科技界颇受欢迎，并以发布基于种族的伪科学内容而闻名。他表示：“太空数据中心是一个绝妙的主意，任何怀疑这一点的人都没有对今晚的选举结果进行足够的思考。”
Throughout the day, Musk employees, tech investors, AI researchers, venture capitalists, and industry fans joined the chorus of support for space-based data centers. Soham Mehta, a research fellow at the techno-optimist think tank Foundation for American Innovation, argued that underwater data centers should also be considered. (In June, China began operating what it claims is the world’s first underwater data center.)
整整一天，马斯克的员工、科技投资者、人工智能研究人员、风险投资家和行业粉丝纷纷加入支持太空数据中心的行列。技术乐观主义智库“美国创新基金会”的研究员索汉·梅塔（Soham Mehta）则认为，也应该考虑水下数据中心。（今年 6 月，中国开始运营其宣称的全球首个水下数据中心。）
Some companies are already trying to put compute in orbit. Among them are Google, which launched a satellite that it says contains “data center class TPU,” and SpaceX, which says it aims to deploy “thousands of AI satellites starting as soon as late 2027.” Blue Origin is also in the mix, having filed for a Federal Communications Commission permit to launch 50,000 satellites that will constitute an “orbital data center system.”
一些公司已经在尝试将计算能力送入轨道。其中包括谷歌，该公司发射了一颗据称包含“数据中心级 TPU”的卫星；SpaceX 则表示，其目标是“最早从 2027 年底开始部署数千颗人工智能卫星”。蓝色起源公司（Blue Origin）也参与其中，已向联邦通信委员会申请许可，计划发射 5 万颗卫星，以构建一个“轨道数据中心系统”。
There are also a few startups aiming to build data centers in space, including Starcloud, which claims to have carried “the first NVIDIA H100 GPU into orbit” in November 2025.
还有一些初创公司致力于在太空建设数据中心，其中包括 Starcloud，该公司声称在 2025 年 11 月将“首个 NVIDIA H100 GPU 送入了轨道”。
Despite being technically possible, the realities of in-orbit data centers are difficult. Among other things, space-based data centers are much more expensive than land-based ones, can’t grow to hyperscale size, and are subject to the risks and whims of satellite launches.
尽管在技术上可行，但轨道数据中心的现实情况却困难重重。除其他因素外，太空数据中心的成本远高于陆地数据中心，无法扩展到超大规模，且容易受到卫星发射风险和不确定性的影响。
When it comes to Texas data centers, the concerns of tech bros aren’t completely unfounded. Experts tell WIRED that the change in leadership could translate to some concrete changes in the industry—albeit with limits.
谈到德克萨斯州的数据中心，科技界人士的担忧并非完全没有根据。专家告诉《连线》（WIRED），领导层的更迭可能会给该行业带来一些具体的改变——尽管这些改变存在局限性。
Although Democrats have control of the Texas House, Republicans still have control over the state’s senate. Robert Paterson, professor of land use and environmental planning at the University of Texas at Austin, tells WIRED that the split means that some immediate attempts at change “will probably be stymied a bit.”
尽管民主党控制了德克萨斯州众议院，但共和党仍控制着该州的参议院。德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校土地利用与环境规划教授罗伯特·帕特森（Robert Paterson）告诉《连线》，这种分裂意味着一些旨在立即改变的尝试“可能会受到一定程度的阻碍”。
Adrian Shelley, director of nonprofit consumer advocacy group Public Citizen’s Texas office, tells WIRED that the legislature would be a likely place to hash out high-impact policies like the reallocation of state agency resources. However, he adds that the governor could effect more immediate changes by issuing executive orders, or requesting the resignation of politically appointed officials in state agencies.
非营利性消费者权益保护组织“公共公民”（Public Citizen）德克萨斯州办公室主任阿德里安·雪莱（Adrian Shelley）告诉《连线》，立法机构很可能是讨论重新分配州政府机构资源等高影响力政策的地方。然而，他补充说，州长可以通过发布行政命令或要求州政府机构中政治任命的官员辞职，来促成更直接的变革。
Shelley says that these oversight agencies—such as the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the Public Utility Commission, and the Texas Water Development Board—have the authority to charge fines for breaking state law, or in extreme cases, to revoke permits for projects like data centers. But Paterson notes that Texas developers have particularly strong “vested rights,” which protects the terms of their projects from the moment their permits are approved, even if construction hasn’t begun yet.
雪莱表示，这些监管机构——如德克萨斯州环境质量委员会、公用事业委员会和德克萨斯州水资源开发委员会——有权对违反州法律的行为处以罚款，在极端情况下，甚至有权撤销数据中心等项目的许可。但帕特森指出，德克萨斯州的开发商拥有特别强大的“既得权利”，这使得他们的项目条款从获得许可的那一刻起就受到保护，即使施工尚未开始。
Another medium-term route to reshaping Texas’s data center industry could be giving more power to its counties. Paterson noted that nearly half of the state’s data centers exist in unincorporated territory, which puts them outside the jurisdiction of city zoning laws.
重塑德克萨斯州数据中心行业的另一个中期途径可能是赋予各县更多的权力。帕特森指出，该州近一半的数据中心位于非建制地区，这使得它们不受城市分区法的管辖。
Unlike other states, Paterson says, Texas counties have relatively limited enforcement abilities. Under the state’s so-called Dillon’s Rule, counties only have powers that are “specifically allotted to it by the state.” So while they have authority over things like access and egress to county roads, or construction on floodplains, he says they don’t have the zoning authority that would help closely regulate projects like data centers.
帕特森说，与其他州不同，德克萨斯州的各县执法能力相对有限。根据该州所谓的“狄龙规则”（Dillon’s Rule），各县仅拥有“由州政府明确分配”的权力。因此，虽然它们对县道出入口或洪泛区建设等事务拥有管辖权，但他表示，它们并不具备有助于严格监管数据中心等项目的分区权力。
Paterson says that the new attorney general could theoretically adjust the terms in the state’s biannual handbook, which establishes the limits of county authority. He also argues that even in a split legislature, especially since anti-data center sentiment crosses party lines, state lawmakers could propose a viable bill giving counties “limited zoning authority over data centers.”
帕特森表示，新任总检察长理论上可以调整州政府半年一次的手册中的条款，该手册规定了县级权力的界限。他还认为，即使在立法机构分裂的情况下，考虑到反对数据中心的情绪跨越了党派界限，州议员们仍可能提出一项可行的法案，赋予各县“对数据中心的有限分区权”。
Shelley tells WIRED that since “data centers were a decisive factor in this blue wave,” the upcoming legislative season will be “very interesting.” “I will say the data center industry hasn’t shown a lot of interest in working with state lawmakers or local leaders,” Shelley says, “and I will be interested to see if that changes.”
雪莱告诉《连线》，由于“数据中心是这次蓝色浪潮中的决定性因素”，即将到来的立法季将“非常有趣”。“我想说的是，数据中心行业对与州议员或地方领导人合作并没有表现出太大的兴趣，”雪莱说，“我很想看看这种情况是否会改变。”
If not, there’s always low-Earth orbit.
如果不会，那还有近地轨道。