# Musk Forecasts Orbital AI and Cloud Capacity Will Exceed Ground by 2029

By Simon Yoon

Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/technology/46551
Published: 2026-11-02T15:09:44.000Z
Updated: 2026-11-02T15:09:44.000Z
Section: Technology

> Google’s cost comparison concerns launching hardware into orbit versus building computing capacity on the ground. Global data-center IT capacity is projected to reach 316 GW in 2030.

Musk forecast that artificial intelligence and cloud computing capacity deployed in near-Earth orbit will exceed ground-based capacity by 2029.

Google said launching computing hardware into orbit could cost as much as 100 times the cost of building computing capacity on the ground. That comparison concerns launch expense versus ground construction cost.

The claims measure different things: Musk's forecast compares computing capacity, while Google's estimate compares costs.

Separately, Morgan Stanley projects global data-center IT capacity will rise from about 136 gigawatts (GW) at the end of 2026 to 316 GW in 2030, a 23% compound annual growth rate. The projected increase is about 180 GW.