Sure thing. Those data centers belong to Axiom and they're located in SPAAAACE!
Axiom Space indicates its intention to send two Orbital Data Center (ODC) nodes into low Earth orbit by the conclusion of 2025.
This week, during the National Space Symposium held in Colorado Springs, the company revealed its plans for a commercial space station and confirmed its use of SpaceX capsules for launching manned missions.
The nodes, which form part of the Kepler Communications optical relay system, will have the capability to function without relying on ground-based facilities. Similar to other advanced "intelligent" satellites, these nodes will also include computational and data-storage features aboard.
Launching data centers into space is not unprecedented. For instance, in 2022, Lonestar was promoting bold ideas about utilizing data centers within lunar lava tubes for long-term data storage.
As stated by Axiom, "ODCs will offer secure, scalable, and cloud-based data storage along with AI/ML solutions directly to satellites, satellite constellations, and various space vehicles orbiting Earth."
Jason Aspiotis, global director of in-space data and security at Axiom Space, said, "We have been developing ODC capabilities since 2022 with the launch of an AWS Snowcone to the International Space Station (ISS), followed by an array of demonstrations in Earth-independent cloud solutions from the station."
Its latest demonstration, AxDCU-1, a Red Hat-powered device to be sent to the ISS, was announced in March 2025 for launch at some point during Spring 2025. Spring ends in June, so time is marching on for the device, with its launch likely not helped by damage to the NG-22 Cygnus cargo freighter, the indefinite delay of which has resulted in payloads being removed from April's SpaceX Dragon cargo manifest in favor of crew consumables.
In 2023, Axiom Space disclosed their intention to showcase high-speed optical inter-satellite communications on the inaugural segment of their planned private space station. As typical in this industry, these launch schedules could experience delays. By late 2024, they rearranged their construction timeline so that the Payload Power Thermal Module (AxPPTM) would be launched initially, succeeded by the habitation unit, aiming to reduce reliance on the International Space Station at the earliest opportunity.
As for Kepler, it plans to launch its first tranche of optical relay satellites in Q4 2025. According to Kepler, Axiom Space "has entered into a strategic collaboration" to purchase two initial on-orbit computing payloads.
The Optical Deployment Craft (ODC) nodes will be equipped with 2.5Gbps-capable optical connections to other components within the Kepler Communications network in low Earth orbit, along with other vehicles that meet the Space Development Agency’s (SDA) Tranche 1 optical communication specifications.
Aspiotis said, "Free-space optical communications have come a long way in the past few years, with significant investments by commercial entities, the Department of Defense, and NASA in advancing OISL capabilities.
We intend to incorporate upcoming 10Gbps+ OISL and space-to-ground optical communication technologies into our future ODC nodes once these are accessible, enabling links with additional satellites, various constellations, numerous ground stations, and eventually supporting data transfer rates reaching Tbps levels in the near term.