Cowboy Space raises $275 million to launch AI data centers on brand-new rocket

Cowboy Space公司融资 2.75 亿美元，自研火箭发射太空人工智能数据中心

Cowboy Space Corp. has raised $275 million for a satellite "stampede" ahead of its first planned launch later this year.

牛仔太空公司（Cowboy Space Corp.）在今年晚些时候计划首次发射卫星前，已融资 2.75 亿美元，用于打造卫星 “集群” 星座。

The company itself isn't new, but its name is; Cowboy Space was previously known as Aetherflux. The newly rebranded outfit will use the $275 million — a round of "Series B" funding led by Index Ventures — to launch solar-powered AI data centers to orbit.

这家公司并非初创，只是刚刚更名 —— 此前名为 “以太通量”（Aetherflux）。完成品牌升级后，公司将这笔由指数风投（Index Ventures）领投的 B 轮 2.75 亿美元融资，用于将太阳能驱动的 AI 数据中心送入地球轨道。

Cowboy Space plans to do this with a homegrown rocket whose upper stage also serves as a data center — meaning the rocket stage and the data center will be a one-piece deal, acting as a 1-megawatt hub once in orbit.

牛仔太空计划采用自研火箭实现这一目标：火箭上面级同时充当数据中心，箭体与数据中心一体化设计，入轨后成为一座1 兆瓦算力枢纽。

That engineering is needed, Cowboy officials said in a May 11 statement, to get the company's planned constellation of satellites, called Stampede, swiftly into orbit to meet worldwide demand for AI computing. (The number of satellites in the planned constellation was not disclosed.) The company also plans to own its manufacturing chain and to have "dedicated launch sites" to speed up launches as much as possible.

公司高管在 5 月 11 日的声明中表示，这套工程方案旨在快速部署名为 “集群”（Stampede）的卫星星座，满足全球 AI 算力需求（未披露星座卫星总数）。公司还计划自建生产链、专属发射场，最大限度提升发射效率。

"Earth's energy grid can't run at the pace of AI. We can," Cowboy officials said via X on May 11. "AI is driving the largest infrastructure build-out in recent history, and the power grid on planet Earth can't keep pace. In major US markets, average grid connection lead times for new data centers can run five to seven years, or more. Meanwhile, AI demand is flat-out outgrowing Earth's pastures."

“地球电网跟不上 AI 的发展速度，但我们可以。” 牛仔太空 5 月 11 日在社交平台 X 上发文称，“AI 正推动近代史上最大规模的基础设施建设，而地球电网难以匹配其增速。美国主要市场中，新建数据中心的电网接入平均周期长达 5 至 7 年，甚至更久。与此同时，AI 算力需求早已超出地球供给能力。”

The company was established in 2024 by Robinhood co-founder Baiju Bhatt as Aetherflux and originally focused on space-based solar power. Aetherflux raised its first round of external funding, a $50 million Series A, about a year ago.

公司由在线券商 Robinhood 联合创始人拜朱・巴特（Baiju Bhatt） 于 2024 年创立，最初名为 Aetherflux，核心业务为空基太阳能发电。约一年前，公司完成首轮外部融资 ——5000 万美元 A 轮融资。

Engineers on the team have come from a variety of space-facing entities, such as SpaceX, Astranis, Kuiper and NVIDIA (which is providing an AI-focused chip platform for Cowboy). Bhatt, who also serves as Cowboy's CEO, stated in the release that the company's proposal is "a first-principles departure from the traditional [satellite] constellation model."

团队工程师来自 SpaceX、Astranis、柯伊伯（Kuiper）等多家航天企业，英伟达（NVIDIA）也为其提供 AI 专用芯片平台。兼任 CEO 的巴特在声明中称，公司方案 “从第一性原理出发，彻底颠覆传统卫星星座模式”。

But before getting there, Cowboy, which is based in San Carlos, California, needs to launch its first satellite. That should happen later this year, if all goes to plan, to demonstrate the company's ability to beam power from space to Earth. A second mission, scheduled for 2027, would include a cluster of satellites to do high-speed (optical, or laser) communications. Then, Cowboy's first rocket would launch in 2028.

但在到达那里之前，总部位于加利福尼亚州圣卡洛斯的牛仔公司需要发射第一颗卫星。按计划，今年晚些时候将执行首次任务，验证太空对地能量传输技术；2027 年开展第二次任务，部署卫星集群实现高速激光通信；自研火箭则定于 2028 年首飞。