What is the appeal of orbital data centres?

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[background music] Hello, folks. You're tuned into Finshots Daily. In today's episode, we argue whether putting data centers into space makes sense economically. But here's a quick side note before we begin. We're hosting a free two-day insurance masterclass that helps you build real financial security by understanding health and life insurance the right way. There are two sessions that we're hosting this Friday and Saturday, that is on 8th May and 9th May. And if you would like to register for free, then you can do so while the seats last by going to the link in the description and enrolling for free. All right, let's get on with today's story. On May 3rd, 2026, Bengaluru-based space tech startup Galaxiye launched Mission Drishti. Now, this may sound like just another satellite launch, but the underlying technology is actually quite interesting. Traditionally, satellites have relied on either optical sensors or synthetic aperture radar sensors, that is SAR sensors. Optical sensors work much like a regular camera capturing visual imagery, while SAR uses radar waves to see through clouds, darkness, and poor weather conditions. Both are useful individually, but combining the two creates a much richer picture of Earth. The problem, though, is that the data usually comes from different satellites captured at different times and angles, creating inconsistencies. And that's what Mission Drishti attempts to solve. Instead of merging data later, Galaxiye built both sensors into a single satellite, so they can observe the same