The earthly limits of data centre resistance | Internet Policy Review

Skip to main content

The earthly limits of data centre resistance

Quito Tsui, Stanford University, United States of America

Aaron Martin, University of Virginia, United States of America

PUBLISHED ON: 10 Jun 2026

What started out as a laughable idea – deploying data centres in space – is apparently a less ludicrous proposition these days. Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are both pursuing the development of technology for orbital data centres through their companies SpaceX and Blue Origin, respectively, funneling considerable resources into what many consider to be a speculative endeavor akin to science fiction. Google, too, has launched its Project Suncatcher with similar goals. These ventures seek to capitalise on the perceived limitlessness of the heavens to drive increasingly zealous AI ambitions.

A frenzy for space

What is it about space that is so attractive to AI companies and their data infrastructure needs? Potential marketing and AI boosterism aside, visions of low-earth orbit compute are driven by the hope to escape the terrestrial constraints facing data centre development. For one, the prospect of free and unlimited solar power is a huge draw, particularly as the energy requirements of data centres rightly continue to raise concerns. In its January 2026 filing to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, SpaceX emphasised the “transformative” potential of “directly harnessing near-constant solar power with little operating or maintenance cost”. It also stressed the environmental advantages of these satellites over terrestrial sites. The passive cooling that space provides is likewise appealing given how much heat is generated by data centres, though experts argue that it would be difficult for heat to dissipate in a vacuum like space.

Developers argue moreover that the apparent abundance of orbital space means that the physical constraints of terrestrial builds are no longer of concern. This belief skirts emergent challenges around real limitations on how many objects can actually fit within the bounds of low-earth orbit given the increased likelihood of collisions, and the new forms of interference posed by orbital data centres. More pertinently perhaps, space-based data centres might have the escape velocity to evade the local politics that attend construction projects and the growing resistance to data centres here on Earth.

Could space be the next frontier for data centre development? While we (and other experts) have serious doubts about the technical and economic feasibility of these plans, the prospect raises hard questions about the possibilities for social organising and resistance to off-earth AI infrastructure projects. Regardless of how Big Tech dreams of space data centres end, the prospect should generate greater scrutiny of what precisely resistance movements are trying to target.

Not in anyone’s backyard

Tech companies are facing some of their strongest headwinds yet as collective, broad-based resistance to data centres has begun to gain traction globally. In the U.S, research group Data centre Watch has mapped $156 bn of blocked or stalled investments across 48 projects as a result of coordinated local opposition in 2025. This public pushback is translating into a new wave of political and legal opposition including a proposed federal moratorium advanced by Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the potential elimination of lucrative tax breaks in Virginia (the data centre capital of the world), and restrictions on permitting across the country. Outside the U.S., similar social movements have emerged in Chile, Ireland, and Mexico to contest the energy and environmental impacts of these projects. Across Europe, the European Union and national governments are finding that their visions of data-centre driven economic vitality are clashing with local community preferences.

For the U.S, the collective and often community-based objection to data centres contrasts sharply with a growing mood of political apathy and, in some cases, enmity. What marks these efforts as especially unusual is their frequently cross-cutting nature – an expression of shared democratic will that some argue is rooted in the material nature of data centres. Unlike less tangible forms of digital incursion (surveillance, facial recognition, digital identity, age verification, and the like), data centres have palpable impacts that communities directly experience: rising utility bills, negative impacts on property values, and the noxious effects of air, noise, and water pollution. Meanwhile promises of a job boom have failed to manifest, leaving little to show for the material fallout of centre operations. This visceral experience has made the calculus of the generative AI boom concrete.

Though not all of this resistance can be read through the lens of AI skepticism, anti-AI sentiment is growing. Community refusal is beginning to...