A senior Google executive responsible for energy infrastructure told The Information that while the US has sufficient power to support its data center growth, the pace of permitting remains a significant hurdle. The energy head estimated that the expense of establishing computing facilities in space could be up to 100 times higher than that of constructing terrestrial sites.

The estimate regarding the cost of orbital infrastructure differs from common industry narratives that suggest space-based data centers may be a viable or scalable alternative to land-based facilities.