Cowboy Space unveils Big Iron rocket architecture for orbital data centers
68 FOMOCowboy Space detailed Big Iron, an 86-meter stainless-steel medium-lift vehicle targeting first flight in 2028. Nine Clydesdale methalox engines power the first stage; the upper stage stays in orbit as a 1-megawatt data center with five racks of NVIDIA GPUs, laser links, and solar arrays spanning 132 m by 73 m. Payload capacity exceeds 15 tonnes to SSO. The company is also offering Big Iron Express commercial launches.
Why it matters
Vertical integration of launch and compute is ambitious; success depends on rapid engine and vehicle development in a crowded medium-lift market.
The numbers
Coverage
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Ars Technica ·
Rocket Report: Winter is coming for Themis; Cowboy Space adds iron to the fireCowboy Space released details on its Big Iron medium-lift rocket, 86 m tall with nine methane Clydesdale engines on the first stage. The upper stage is designed to remain in orbit as a 1 MW data center with five GPU racks and large solar arrays.
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Payload ·
Cowboy Space Reveals Big Iron Data Center RocketCowboy Space detailed Big Iron and tested a Clydesdale combustion chamber at Stennis in 90 days. Reason-1 launched Oct 1; Reason-2 planned for 2027 with NOAA GPU processing workload.
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Via Satellite ·
Cowboy Space Names Rocket ‘Big Iron,’ Targets 2028 DebutBig Iron is an 86 m stainless-steel vehicle targeting >15 t to SSO and 2028 debut. Upper stage becomes part of the Stampede constellation of up to 20,000 data-center satellites.
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Veenie.Space Telemetry
Cowboy Space detailed Big Iron, an 86-meter stainless-steel medium-lift vehicle targeting first flig