A cluster of well-funded startups including Starcloud, Cowboy Space, and a16z-backed Orbital are racing to commercialize solar-powered AI data centers in orbit, but independent analysis shows orbital compute still costs three to four times more than terrestrial alternatives and requires a fifteen-fold reduction in launch costs to reach parity. The race raises a sharper question: whether Big Tech will acquire these startups or simply build competing infrastructure through SpaceX relationships the