PowerBank and Orbit AI announced they’ll launch the world’s first solar-powered satellite data cloud in 2026 — a network of orbital data-centres orbiting in low Earth orbit.
The first satellite, DeStarlink Genesis-1, will lift off as early as December 2025 carrying an onboard blockchain node, Ethereum wallet and AI-processing payload.
The full project — dubbed the “Orbital Cloud” — merges three systems: a decentralized LEO communications network, orbit-based AI data centres, and blockchain-powered verification. All powered by solar energy and chilled by space’s natural vacuum — eliminating terrestrial power and cooling constraints.
If successful, this could create a brand-new digital infrastructure: a global, sovereign, AI-enabled “digital layer in space”, offering data, compute and blockchain services while bypassing Earth-based network, power or geopolitical limitations.
Forecasts suggest the combined market for orbital satellites, in-orbit data-centres, blockchain services and solar-powered infrastructure could exceed US$700 billion over the next decade.
Source: https://telcomagazine.com/news/powerbank-orbit-ai-to-launch-satellite-data-cloud-in-2026