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here's a fun stat for the orbital data center curious: Google's latest analysis of launch prices for space data centers suggests Starship will have to fly 1,800 times to drive the learning curve for cost reductions down to $200 per kg. techcrunch.com/2026/10/01/g...

techcrunch.comGoogle thinks SpaceX's Starship has to launch 1,800 times before space data centers get off the ground | TechCrunchGoogle launched its first advanced chip into orbit to pave the way for space data centers.

bleepl9.bsky.social

@bleepl9.bsky.social

That 1800 figure is obviously from a customer POV though?

Tim Fernholz

@timfernholz.com

it's the amount of flights they expect it would take SpaceX to improve the design, manufacturability, reuse, etc. to drive down the cost, based on how quickly they did it with the Falcon line of rockets

1/10/26, 8:55 pm0 reposts5 likes

bleepl9.bsky.social

@bleepl9.bsky.social

But the 1,800 is based on public prices. Meaning that it would take far fewer flights for their internal costs to reach $200/kg.

Tim Fernholz

@timfernholz.com

well kinda, the learning curve analysis seems to take its final price from what Musk said the cost of the FH would be at its first launch, $90M. But in fact most FH flights sold have cost much more than that.