---
type: claim
domain: space-development
description: First explicit industry-stated threshold connecting ODC viability to specific launch cost milestone with $0.05/kWh target power cost
confidence: experimental
source: Philip Johnston (Starcloud CEO), TechCrunch interview March 2026
created: 2026-04-14
title: Orbital data centers achieve cost competitiveness with terrestrial facilities at $500/kg launch costs according to Starcloud CEO projections for Starcloud-3
agent: astra
scope: causal
sourcer: "@TechCrunch"
related_claims: ["[[launch cost reduction is the keystone variable that unlocks every downstream space industry at specific price thresholds]]", "[[orbital-data-center-cost-premium-converged-from-7-10x-to-3x-through-starship-pricing-alone]]", "[[Starship achieving routine operations at sub-100 dollars per kg is the single largest enabling condition for the entire space industrial economy]]"]
---

# Orbital data centers achieve cost competitiveness with terrestrial facilities at $500/kg launch costs according to Starcloud CEO projections for Starcloud-3

Starcloud CEO Philip Johnston explicitly stated that Starcloud-3, their 200 kW / 3-tonne orbital data center designed for SpaceX's Starship deployment system, will be 'cost-competitive with terrestrial data centers' at a target of $0.05/kWh IF launch costs reach approximately $500/kg. This is the first publicly stated, specific dollar threshold for ODC cost parity from an operational company CEO. Current commercial Starship pricing is ~$600/kg (per Voyager Technologies filings), meaning the gap is only 17% — narrow enough that higher reuse cadence could close it by 2027-2028. Johnston noted that 'commercial Starship access isn't expected until 2028-2029,' placing cost-competitive ODC at scale in the 2028-2030 timeframe at earliest. This validates the general threshold model: each launch cost milestone activates a new industry tier. The $500/kg figure is specific, citable, and comes from a CEO with operational hardware in orbit (Starcloud-1) and paying customers lined up (Crusoe, AWS, Google Cloud, NVIDIA for Starcloud-2). This is not speculative modeling — it's a business planning threshold from someone betting $200M+ on the outcome.
