# OpenAI (skeptic): orbital data center program

> United States (United States), big tech. Stage 1 of 7: Concept. OpenAI has no orbital compute program and its CEO has said it is focused on building on Earth.

- Canonical page: https://spacenexus.us/orbital-data-centers/openai
- This Markdown version: https://spacenexus.us/orbital-data-centers/openai.md
- Data as of: 2026-10-05 (last evidence review)
- How the numbers are made: https://spacenexus.us/orbital-data-centers#method

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## Stage evidence

- OpenAI has no orbital compute program and its CEO has said it is focused on building on Earth. Sources: [CNBC](https://www.cnbc.com/video/2026/06/01/sam-altman-on-data-centers-in-space-were-focused-building-on-earth-for-now.html)
- Vision only: statements of intent or interest, not a program of its own.

## Approach

- Orbit: Not applicable
- Architecture: No program. Sam Altman reportedly explored investing in Stoke Space in 2025; in 2026 he called orbital data centers "ridiculous" for now
- Power: Not applicable
- Cooling: Not applicable
- Compute: Not applicable
- Customers: Not applicable

## Milestones

| Date | Status | Confidence | Milestone | Sources |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2025-12-04 | achieved | Reported | Altman reportedly explored a large investment in Stoke Space for space data centers. Talks reported as no longer active. | [GeekWire](https://www.geekwire.com/2025/openai-ceo-stoke-space-data-center/) |
| 2026-02-23 | achieved | Reported | Altman: orbital data centers "ridiculous" in the current landscape. Reported by Gizmodo and Techzine; will not matter at scale this decade. | [Techzine](https://www.techzine.eu/news/infrastructure/138990/openai-ceo-sam-altman-expects-no-space-based-data-centers-this-decade/); [Gizmodo](https://gizmodo.com/heated-rivals-musk-and-altman-disagree-on-one-more-thing-data-centers-in-space-2000725311) |
| 2026-06-01 | achieved | Reported | Altman: focused on building on Earth for now. CNBC, Stargate Michigan event. | [CNBC](https://www.cnbc.com/video/2026/06/01/sam-altman-on-data-centers-in-space-were-focused-building-on-earth-for-now.html) |

## Announced next steps (as the organisation stated them)

No dated next step announced.

## What to watch (SpaceNexus note, not a prediction)

Listed as a skeptic voice among AI labs.

## People

- Sam Altman (CEO)

## Sources

- [CNBC](https://www.cnbc.com/video/2026/06/01/sam-altman-on-data-centers-in-space-were-focused-building-on-earth-for-now.html)
- [GeekWire](https://www.geekwire.com/2025/openai-ceo-stoke-space-data-center/)
- [Techzine](https://www.techzine.eu/news/infrastructure/138990/openai-ceo-sam-altman-expects-no-space-based-data-centers-this-decade/)
- [Gizmodo](https://gizmodo.com/heated-rivals-musk-and-altman-disagree-on-one-more-thing-data-centers-in-space-2000725311)

## Licence and credits

- Licence: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) for the stage, labels and summaries compiled by SpaceNexus. Cite as "Data: SpaceNexus (spacenexus.us)" with a link to https://spacenexus.us/orbital-data-centers/openai.
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