© 24/7 Wall St. Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA | NVDA Price Prediction) stock might be grounded, but its GPUs are heading to space as the concept of orbital infrastructure and data centers shifts from a dream into reality. With Artemis II blasting off, a SpaceX IPO likely due for the start of summer, and a number of space startups gearing up for launches of their own in the second half, it’s becoming hard to ignore the space race, especially as corporations look to the skies for profit opportunities. Undoubtedly, Elon Musk’s vision of data centers in space sounded pretty outlandish at least at first, but he did make some pretty good points about keeping some of the AI compute up there. Whether it’s the stronger solar energy that’s up there, the cooling benefits, or the latency benefits of inference on edge devices, I think orbital infrastructure is at least worth a shot. In any case, there seems to be a corporate space race of sorts brewing as firms look to satellites as a source of 5G connectivity. Starlink was profoundly ambitious, and the venture is paying off in a big way. Naturally, the next phase would be to bring the AI hardware up there, and I don’t think it’s too far-fetched to envision a 1-million data-center satellite constellation if Musk gets the green light. In any case, back to Nvidia. The company is setting its sights on space as well, with a platform that’s tailored to running the company’s latest and greatest in space. Orbital computing might be the next frontier, and Nvidia already has the picks and shovels ready The Space-1 Vera Rubin module, which was highlighted at the company’s GTC 2026, was easy to miss. It sounded out of this world because it literally is. As Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and company team up with other firms to allow Vera Rubin chips to operate in orbit, the big question is whether space-based data centers could act as another big growth driver for Nvidia. If Musk leads an AI data center space race, it’s only natural to think that other tech titans will take notice and start following suit with big bets of their own. Indeed, the Mag Seven titans have tons of cash to spend, and the only thing more ambitious than advanced AI is advanced AI in space. For now, it’s hard to tell where the concept of space computing will lead the mega-cap tech titans. It’s certainly exciting, but, for now, investors should probably temper their expectations, as the AI data terrestrial center buildout right here on Earth is still in its early innings. Of course, there’s a huge first-mover advantage to be had for SpaceX, especially as it looks to new growth frontiers while the rest of the tech world scrambles to catch up. Whether hyperscalers increase CapEx in the future to pursue data centers in space remains the trillion-dollar question. Either way, Nvidia is ready with the picks and the shovels that firms will surely scoop up as their ambitions soar into the exosphere. Nvidia’s space tech is real, but the stock’s staying grounded What’s most intriguing, in my view, is Nvidia’s partnerships with firms like Sophia Space, an orbital computing startup that’s serious about the nascent field of space computing. For now, I don’t see that much orbital data center hype priced into Nvidia stock. And, over the foreseeable future, I don’t think things will change all too much, at least until the hyperscalers start cranking up the investment in satellite constellations and orbital computing. As for when Nvidia stock will get going again, it’s tough to tell, especially as the AI innovators look to surpass critical energy and connectivity bottlenecks ahead. And, of course, AI needs to show it can actually bring in the cash flows. In the meantime, I’d look for Nvidia to keep investing in a way to help the industry move past such bottlenecks. All the while, the valuation multiple stands to just get cheaper the longer Nvidia stays at around $180-185 per share. You don’t have to look far to run into an analyst who expects big gains for the firm over the year ahead. Personally, though, I want to see Nvidia break out of its consolidation channel first. As the technicians say, the longer the base, the higher in space. About the Author