Cowboy Space Raises $275M to Build Rocket-Powered AI Data Centers in Orbit

Quick Facts

• Cowboy Space raised $275 million Series B at $2 billion valuation to build orbital AI data centers integrated directly into rocket upper stages
• Each rocket upper stage becomes a 1-megawatt data center in orbit, eliminating traditional satellite deployment redundancies
• The orbital data center market is projected to reach $39 billion by 2035, growing at 67% annually

Cowboy Space Corporation raised $275 million in Series B funding to build rockets with upper stages that serve as AI data centers once in low Earth orbit. The company, founded by former Robinhood co-CEO Baiju Bhatt, reached a $2 billion valuation.

Index Ventures led the round with participation from IVP, Blossom Capital and SAIC. Existing investors include Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Construct Capital, Andreessen Horowitz and NEA. The company has raised $365 million total since its 2024 founding.

Cowboy’s approach differs from traditional satellite deployment. The company designs data centers directly into rocket second stages instead of treating them as separate payloads. Each upper stage becomes a 1-megawatt data center after reaching orbit.

“Our approach starts from a blank sheet, where the unique requirements of data centers in orbit drive the form and function of the overall system,” Bhatt said. “The rocket and the data center are a single design from day one.”

The company targets rockets larger than SpaceX’s 70-meter Falcon 9 but smaller than the 120-meter Starship. The design aims for 20,000 to 25,000 kilograms of payload capacity to orbit.

Cowboy partnered with NVIDIA to deploy Space-1 Vera Rubin Modules for AI computing in low Earth orbit. The company plans its first demonstration mission later this year using a small satellite built with manufacturer Apex.

The orbital data center market is experiencing rapid growth. Projections show the market reaching $39 billion by 2035, up from $1.8 billion in 2029, representing a 67% compound annual growth rate.

Eight organizations filed plans, launched hardware or committed funding for orbital data centers within the past 90 days. The surge reflects growing AI compute demand that terrestrial infrastructure struggles to meet.

“I see the demand for AI getting more and more acute, and I see the options on Earth getting more and more limited,” Bhatt said.

Launch capacity constraints drove Cowboy’s decision to build rockets instead of satellites only. Bhatt said he couldn’t find sufficient launch capacity from existing providers to scale an orbital data center business.

The company hired space industry veterans including former Blue Origin propulsion engineer Warren Lamont and former SpaceX launch director Tyler Grinnell. The team includes engineers from SpaceX, Astranis, NASA, Kuiper and NVIDIA.

Cowboy plans to deploy its first “Galactic Brain” data center node in early 2027. The company aims for its first proprietary rocket launch carrying a one-megawatt data center by the end of 2028.

“Cowboy is building at exactly the right moment, as demand for AI compute and energy begins to outstrip what terrestrial infrastructure can support,” said Jan Hammer, partner at Index Ventures.

Read more: Cowboy Space raises $275M to build orbital AI data centers