Andy.LIU / Shutterstock.com The global rivalry between the US and China extends to internet and cloud access, and some fear that space-based data centers could exacerbate this separation further. The US Cloud Act already gives the US government the power to force companies to shut off services to Europe or elsewhere and compel US-based servers to disclose data under warrant, regardless of geographical location. China already exercises unilateral control over cloud computing and internet access within its purview. Some fear that space-based data centers will exacerbate this access control even further, leaving Europe and the rest of the world at the mercy of the US and China for their proprietary data if stored in space. The dominance of the earthbound Amazon AWS and Alphabet Google Cloud already skew the market in favor of the US. However, Musk is apparently not the only one thinking of data centers in outer space: Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai disclosed on a Fox News interview that the Google “Project Suncatcher” included plans to put solar powered data centers into outer space as early as 2027.