The Cowboy Space team has plans for vertically integrated infrastructure spanning launch vehicles, space-based power and in-orbit compute. Credit: Cowboy Space
TAMPA, Fla. — Cowboy Space has filed plans with the Federal Communications Commission for a 20,000-satellite “Stampede” orbital data center constellation, shortly after raising $275 million to develop rockets whose upper stages would serve as the computing platforms.
The San Carlos, California-based startup provided few details in the May 14 application about satellites it plans to begin launching in 2028, noting their design remains unfinished and will need a license modification before service.
The low Earth orbit (LEO) network would operate in dawn-dusk sun-synchronous orbits in shells between 700-1,000 kilometers above Earth, where they would use near-continuous solar energy to help bypass power, land, water and other constraints facing terrestrial data centers.
“Stampede is designed with scalability in mind and is capable of beginning commercial operations with as little as a single satellite in orbit,” Cowboy chief operating officer Joseph Yaffe said in the application, and will “progressively launch satellites and build out the system over the following months and years.”
