Lasers and Chips for Orbit
JZ@jzdeveloper
The idea
I believe data centers are moving into orbit, since sunlight there is nearly constant and free, and could eventually dwarf all power capacity on Earth. Rather than betting on the rockets, this basket owns the picks and shovels: laser terminals that link satellites together, the optical component makers behind them, radiation-hardened chips, and the AI compute makers already named in orbital plans. It is spread across many names with no single bet dominating, a slice of cash set aside to add on dips, and built to be held for years as this plays out slowly.
What will be bought
- Radiation in orbit destroys ordinary chips, and these companies make parts engineered to survive it. · Teledyne TechnologiesIt makes space-grade electronics and imaging parts that already fly on satellites and will populate orbital hardware., Microchip TechnologyIt supplies radiation-hardened chips that keep working where normal ones fail, and orbital data centers will need them in volume., Analog DevicesIt makes space-qualified analog chips for power and signals on satellites, which orbital data centers running on solar power will require., Advanced Micro DevicesIts space-grade reprogrammable chips already fly on satellites, and its AI chips provide a second path into orbital compute., STMicroelectronicsIt makes radiation-hardened chips used on satellites, providing a second supplier so the basket doesn't depend on one company., Texas InstrumentsIt sells space-rated versions of standard chips with a steady business model, serving as ballast in the take., Intel CorporationIt is a partner in efforts to manufacture orbital compute chips in volume in the US, betting those chips get made domestically.33%
- Lasers, optics and assembly for every light-based data link come from a narrow group of suppliers. · Coherent CorpIt makes the lasers and optical components inside every laser link, whether on the ground today or between satellites tomorrow., Lumentum HoldingsIt makes the laser chips that convert data into light, the core component of every optical link in space or on Earth., FabrinetIt assembles optical gear for customers, so it gets paid as laser links scale in volume regardless of which brand leads., Applied OptoelectronicsIt makes optical parts and recently raised capital, held small as an upside bet on laser link demand if the money goes into production customers need.23%
- The AI chips designed for ground data centers are already named in the first orbital data center plans. · NVIDIA CorporationIts AI chips appear in every announced orbital data center plan, so most space-based computing likely runs on them if the take unfolds., Alphabet IncIts Project Suncatcher puts AI chips on solar-powered satellites, a direct bet on the same orbital data center belief., Broadcom IncIt designs the compute chips for orbital data centers and makes the optical networking chips that link them together.20%
- Satellites become a single data center only when laser terminals link them together, and very few companies make those terminals. · Rocket Lab CorporationIt owns one of the few makers of space laser terminals that would link orbital data centers into one system, the core bottleneck for this take., L3Harris TechnologiesIt builds satellites that talk to each other by laser, the same technology needed to tie thousands of orbital machines into one system.14%
- Cash10%