Jeff Bezos says 2-3 year timeline for space data centers is a 'little ambitious'

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos says bringing data centers into space is a "very realistic" outcome, but could take longer than expected to pan out.

"Some of the timelines we hear are very short," he told CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin on Wednesday, referring to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk's plans to bring data centers into orbit in the next two to three years. "They're probably not right."

Bezos, who founded space company Blue Origin, said one key barrier to entry is energy, and chip costs need to come down to make more room for it in data center budgets. Launch costs also need to get cheaper, he said.

Space companies are racing to make data centers in space a reality, as artificial intelligence skyrockets demand for energy and land resources. Proponents say orbital data centers can resolve these issues and offer better access to solar energy.

Businesses are betting big on the prospect of space-based datacenters. In February, Musk said building "orbital data centers" in space was one of the main reasons for merging SpaceX with his artificial intelligence start-up xAI.

Bezos is also betting on the sector. Blue Origin in March submitted plans to the Federal Communications Commission to send 51,600 data center satellites into low Earth orbit, as part of an initiative dubbed "Project Sunrise."

The satellites would be supported by Blue Origin's planned constellation, called TeraWave. Blue Origin has sought regulatory approval to launch TeraWave, saying it hopes to begin deploying the constellation in the fourth quarter of 2027.

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