Baiju Bhatt, co-founder of Robinhood, has transitioned from fintech to space, launching a new venture initially named Aetherflux and later rebranded as Cowboy Space Corporation in May 2026. This ambitious undertaking aims to establish orbital data centers for artificial intelligence computing and beam solar power back to Earth by capturing energy in orbit. Bhatt, who stepped down as Robinhood's chief creative officer in March 2024 but remains on its board, sees this as a natural extension of his first-principles approach, much like his work in democratizing stock trading which led to all major US brokerages dropping trading commissions.
Cowboy Space Corporation has already secured significant funding, including a $275 million Series B round led by Index Ventures, pushing its valuation to $2 billion. Bhatt initially self-funded Aetherflux's first $10 million and contributed to a subsequent $50 million round. The company's strategy emphasizes vertical integration, including the development of proprietary rockets rather than relying on third-party launch providers. Cowboy Space plans to launch demonstration satellites in 2026, with an aggressive timeline to eventually build thousands of orbital data centers, each designed to function as a one-megawatt data center.
The company's mission addresses two critical needs: the surging energy demands of AI computing and the pursuit of space-based solar power as a constant renewable energy source. Bhatt's team comprises engineers from notable entities such as SpaceX, JPL, Astranis, NASA, Kuiper, and NVIDIA. They are working on a fully integrated system where the rocket and the data center are designed as a single unit to maximize efficiency and computing power in low Earth orbit. The company plans to launch its first satellite this year to demonstrate space-to-Earth power beaming and test its broader infrastructure model, including a public event to showcase live power beaming from space.
