Cowboy Space Corporation, the company formerly known as Aetherflux, has raised $275 million in Series B financing as it expands from space-based solar power into orbital data centers and dedicated rockets. The San Carlos, California-based startup said the round values the company at $2 billion and was led by Index Ventures, with participation from IVP, Blossom Capital, SAIC, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Construct Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, NEA, Interlagos and founder Baiju Bhatt. The announcement marks both a major capital raise and a strategic rebrand for the company founded in 2024 by the Robinhood co-founder.
Funding Signals Investor Interest in Space-Based AI Infrastructure
The funding comes as demand for artificial intelligence computing continues to place pressure on power grids, land availability and data center buildouts on Earth. Cowboy Space is positioning orbit as a new layer of compute infrastructure, arguing that solar-powered systems in Low Earth Orbit could help support high-performance AI workloads at commercial scale. Its updated mission broadens the original Aetherflux plan, which focused on collecting solar power in space and transmitting energy back to Earth.
A Vertically Integrated Rocket-and-Data-Center Model
Cowboy Space’s core technical plan is to design the rocket and orbital data center as one integrated vehicle rather than treating the rocket as a delivery system for a separate payload. Under the company’s proposed architecture, the rocket’s upper stage would remain in orbit and operate as a one-megawatt data center, reducing redundant mass and increasing the amount of power and compute delivered per launch. The company says this model is intended to give it more control over deployment economics and access to launch capacity, a concern as multiple space infrastructure companies compete for limited rides to orbit.
NVIDIA Collaboration and Technical Roadmap
The company is also working with NVIDIA to deploy NVIDIA Space-1 Vera Rubin Modules, bringing advanced AI computing hardware into the Low Earth Orbit environment. In a LinkedIn post, Bhatt said Cowboy Space’s satellite constellation, called Stampede, is designed to use solar energy to run on-orbit GPU data centers while supporting optical data transmission between space and Earth. He also said the company plans a first satellite launch later this year to demonstrate space-to-Earth power beaming, followed by a second mission in early 2027 focused on GPU compute and optical communications.
Ambition Meets Execution Risk
The plan is ambitious because building orbital data centers is already technically difficult, and developing a new launch vehicle adds another layer of capital intensity, engineering complexity and schedule risk. TechCrunch reported that Bhatt expects Cowboy Space’s first rocket launch before the end of 2028, while Payload reported that the launch would come no earlier than the end of that year. The company has hired engineers from organizations including SpaceX, Astranis, NASA, Kuiper and NVIDIA, but it will still need to prove that its integrated design can be manufactured, launched and operated economically.
Cowboy Space’s Series B gives the startup substantial backing to pursue one of the more aggressive visions in the emerging space infrastructure market. By combining solar power, orbital computing and dedicated launch vehicles, the company is attempting to address AI’s growing energy and compute demands with infrastructure built beyond Earth. Its next milestones, beginning with the planned satellite demonstration this year, will determine whether the newly rebranded company can turn a bold financing announcement into a credible commercial platform.