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Pixxel and Sarvam Launch Orbital Data Centre to Revolutionize Space Computing
The mission will test AI training and real-time inference in orbit and could produce India’s first homegrown large language model this year.
On Monday, Bengaluru-based Pixxel announced a partnership with AI startup Sarvam to develop 'The Pathfinder,' India's first orbital data centre satellite designed to validate real-time AI inference in space.
Growing public resistance to massive energy demands of terrestrial data centres is pushing tech companies like Google and Elon Musk-owned SpaceX to bypass Earth's power constraints through orbital solutions.
Expected to reach orbit by the end of 2026, the 200-kg satellite will house the same generation of GPUs used in on-ground data centres, enabling frontier AI model training directly in space.
Sarvam CEO Pratyush Kumar said having India-built models running in orbit represents 'foundational capability' for sovereign intelligence infrastructure, with data processing independent of foreign cloud systems.
Pixxel will develop the satellite at its upcoming Gigapixxel facility designed to scale production to up to 100 satellites, while Morgan Stanley projects India's data centre capacity reaching about 10.5 GW by 2031.