Overview
Summary
With AI’s energy and water demands straining Earth, Ethos Space CEO Ross Centers argues the moon is the logical next frontier for data centers—offering nearly unlimited solar power, natural cooling, and raw minerals for construction—while US and international legal frameworks support ownership of built lunar assets and a US–China space race pushes spaceport timelines toward the end of this decade.
Key Takeaways
Key Insights
- “The moon has infinite power, infinite cooling, and infinite mineral resources to manufacture these data centers.”
→ This reframes lunar development as an escape valve for AI’s growing consumption of Earth’s limited resources. - “These can all be made from the regolith that you find at any landing pad anywhere you land on the moon.”
→ Building with local lunar material eliminates the impossible cost and weight of launching entire data centers from Earth. - “The moon only interacts with the Earth through its gravity… that doesn’t change the gravity.”
→ Constructing lunar infrastructure won’t disrupt tides or seasons because gravity remains unaffected. - “US law is very clear that if you make something on the moon, that’s yours… and international law agrees.”
→ Ownership concerns are answered by a legal regime that grants title to whoever builds the asset. - “We’re going to be building a spaceport on the moon by the end of this decade.”
→ The timeline makes lunar data centers a near-term strategic race, not distant science fiction.
Most Memorable Takeaway
“It’s always been an eighth continent that is just hanging in the sky.”
Wrap-up
One-sentence value:
This conversation turns lunar data centers from a sci-fi idea into a plausible, near-term strategy for keeping AI growth from hitting Earth’s resource ceiling, while framing property rights and US–China competition as the forces that will determine who wins the off-world compute race.
Immediate next action:
Track US–China lunar milestones and Artemis Accords signatories as signal posts for the coming off-world compute economy.
Chapters
Introduction to Moon Data Centers
Gio introduces the topic of building data centers on the moon, describing it as something out of a science fiction movie. He mentions launchpads, spaceports, and data centers on the moon, noting that the battle for AI dominance is pushing companies to consider space-based computing centers. He welcomes Ross Centers, CEO of Ethos Space, to discuss the topic.
Benefits of Moon Data Centers
Ross explains why moon-based data centers are a better alternative to Earth-based ones. He says the moon offers infinite power, cooling, and mineral resources for manufacturing data centers. He describes the first stage of a 1 gigawatt data center on the moon, with solar panels and towers made from lunar regolith. This approach avoids competing with Earth’s human and energy resources, creating a new continent for data centers and compute.
Addressing Lunar Environmental Concerns
Gio asks about the moon’s role in controlling tides and stabilizing seasons, questioning if building infrastructure could have unintended consequences. Ross responds that the moon only interacts with Earth through gravity, and transforming regolith into landing pads, solar panels, or data centers does not change its gravity. He also states that even launching material off the moon would remove such a small percentage that there would be no difference.
Lunar Ownership and Legal Issues
Gio raises the question of who owns the moon, referencing the 1967 Outer Space Treaty which says no nation can own the moon. Ross explains that US law gives title to anything developed or made on the moon, and international law agrees. He mentions that 55 nations signed the Artemis Accords, which support property rights where if you build it, it’s yours.
Timeline for Moon Spaceports
Gio asks how long it will take to build spaceports on the moon. Ross says it is happening quickly due to a new space race between the US and China. China is hitting its goals, with astronauts on the moon before 2030. The US is bound to keep up, so a spaceport will be built on the moon by the end of this decade, with solar cells, cooling panels, and scalable data structures early next decade.
Transcript
Sounds like something out of a science fiction movie. Launchpad, spaceports, and data centers on the moon. Well, soon those dreams could become reality. The battle for AI dominance is now forcing companies to think outside the box and outside our atmosphere, racing to get massive computing centers into outer space. Joining me now for more on all of this is Ross Centers, CEO of Ethos Space. Ross, thank you so much for being here. >> Thanks, Gio. >> Okay, so let’s try to break this all down here. So data centers on Earth, they’re actually causing a massive strain on on precious resources, of course, electricity, water. So why would data centers on the move be a better alternative? >> Well, the data centers on the moon are a really opportune moment in history because right now we’re building ships that can get there. And it’s always been an eighth continent that is just hanging in the sky. But what it’s for is it has infinite power, infinite cooling, and infinite mineral resources to manufacture these data centers. So what you’re seeing here is the first stage of a 1 gawatt data center on the moon. And those solar panels and those towers, those are all made from lunar resources. These can all be made from the regalith that you find at any landing pad anywhere you land on the moon. So, we can take away the problem of trying to fit all of the energy demands for infinite growth in AI onto Earth competing with human resources and we can put that onto the moon and we can create a new continent where we make our data centers and we have our compute live and it’s going to solve a lot of problems. >> What about the fact that that the moon controls tides, it helps stabilize seasons among so many other things uh here on Earth? Are there any concerns that building that kind of infrastructure there on the moon could potentially have unintended consequences for us here on Earth? >> None at all. The moon only interacts with the Earth through its gravity. Right? So when we transform this regalith into landing pad materials like this hard rock or we make it into solar panels and data centers, that doesn’t change the gravity of it. And even if we launch material off the moon, we’re going to be taking such a small percentage that there’ll be no difference at all. What about this major question that you know who owns the moon, right? The outer space treaty of 1967 says that no nation can own the moon. So could this lead to a conflict of companies start claiming uh lunar real estate? I mean, I can imagine quite the legal battle uh an interstellar legal battle might happen. >> Well, US law is actually very clear that if you start developing something on the moon, if you make something on the moon, that’s yours and you have title to it. And international law agrees. Even the outer space treaty says you can’t interfere with what other people are doing. Uh we have 55 nations signed up to the Artemis Accords and they all stand for an affirmative vision of property rights where if you build it, it’s yours. >> All right. Well, if I can get there, I’ll claim my property right there. Um so all of this sounds very futuristic. How long do you think that it will take to to put these space ports on the moon? >> This is happening very quickly, right? The United States and China are locked in a new space race. And China is is hitting all of its goals on time. There are going to be Chinese astronauts on the moon before 2030. And the United States is bound to keep up. So, we’re going to be building a spaceport on the moon by the end of this decade. And very quickly after that, we’re going to be able to create solar cells and cooling panels and be able to host very scalable data structures right there on the moon early next decade. >> All right. Ross Centers, the CEO of Ethospace. a fascinating conversation. Thank you so much for joining us.
