Date: 28 September 2026 6.30 pm
Location: Schneider Electric Offices (80 Victoria street, London, SW1E 5JL)
Discussion with Eric Benoist, Tech and Data Thematic Research at Natixis (on registration only)
As global constraints on energy and water tighten, AI may hit physical limits sooner than anticipated. While Space offers a compelling alternative for data center hosting, the critical question remains: can it scale at a reasonable cost?
As AI continues to drive rapidly increasing demand for computing power, the availability of energy, water and suitable land is becoming an increasingly important constraint for data centre development. This raises an intriguing question: could space offer a viable alternative for hosting data centres?
Eric will share his perspective on the potential of orbital data centres, exploring both the opportunities and the significant challenges involved. The discussion will touch on questions such as:
- Could space help address the growing energy and infrastructure requirements of AI?
- What are the potential advantages of operating data centres in orbit, particularly around solar energy and cooling?
- What are the technological, economic and environmental barriers to making this viable?
- Could orbital data centres ever scale at a competitive cost?
- And perhaps most importantly: is this a realistic future for the data industry, or an attractive but impractical solution?
The session will be deliberately interactive, giving participants the opportunity to question, debate and exchange perspectives with Eric and with fellow data experts.
The discussion will be followed by informal drinks nearby, providing an opportunity to continue the conversation and network with the FBDS community.