{"id":"fcdb7390-4826-4bb9-a8e0-5bde1f624be5","name":"Aetherflux","slug":"aetherflux","description":"Space-based solar power company founded by Robinhood co-founder Baiju Bhatt. Building LEO satellites to collect solar Energy and beam it to Earth via infrared lasers. HQ San Carlos, CA. USD 60M total funding including USD 50M Series A (Apr 2025) led by Index Ventures. DoD OECIF funding for power transmission proof-of-concept. First space demo in early 2026. Galactic Brain orbital data center project targeting Q1 2027.","status":"private","founded":2024,"hq":"San Carlos, California, USA","hqLat":37.504936,"hqLng":-122.261823,"hqGeocodedAt":"2026-08-23T20:59:11.627Z","hqAddress":null,"hqPrecision":null,"website":"https://www.cowboyspace.com","fundingTotal":"50000000","type":"hardware","roles":["robot_maker"],"reviewStatus":"reviewed","heatIndex":75,"lifecycleState":"active","supersededByCompanyId":null,"sources":[{"url":"https://payloadspace.com/aetherflux-rebrands-pivots-business-and-raises-275m/","title":"Aetherflux Rebrands, Pivots Business—and Raises $275M","sourceName":"Payload Space"},{"url":"https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261026770279/en/Cowboy-Space-Reveals-Big-Iron-Its-Data-Center-Rocket-and-Opens-Commercial-Launch-to-Government-and-Third-Party-Payloads","title":"Cowboy Space Reveals Big Iron, Its Data Center Rocket, and Opens Commercial Launch to Government and Third-Party Payloads","sourceName":"Business Wire (Cowboy Space)","publishedAt":"2026-10-27"},{"url":"https://payloadspace.com/cowboy-space-reveals-big-iron-data-center-rocket/","title":"Cowboy Space Reveals Big Iron Data Center Rocket","sourceName":"Payload","publishedAt":"2026-10-27"},{"url":"https://www.cowboyspace.com/","title":"Cowboy Space Corporation","sourceName":"Cowboy Space","publishedAt":"2026-10-27"}],"keyFacts":[{"label":"Founder background","value":"Founder Baiju Bhatt is a Robinhood co-founder."},{"label":"Series B and rebrand (company-claimed)","value":"Raised $275M at a $2B valuation led by Index Ventures and is rebranding to Cowboy Space Corporation."},{"label":"Total funding","value":"$325M in total."},{"label":"Series B investors (reported, May 2026)","value":"Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Construct Capital and IVP joined Index Ventures."},{"label":"Original business","value":"A $50M Series A about a year earlier funded LEO space-solar power beamed via infrared lasers."},{"label":"Pivot (reported, May 2026)","value":"Most of the business shifts to a launch vehicle and in-space computing; the rocket upper stage is designed to run as a 1 MW data center in orbit."},{"label":"Timeline (company-claimed)","value":"First satellite planned this year for a power-beaming demo; first rocket no earlier than end of 2028."},{"label":"Big Iron rocket (company-stated, Oct 2026)","value":"86 m stainless steel rocket with a reusable booster and nine methane Clydesdale engines, designed to lift over 15,000 kg to sun-synchronous orbit."},{"label":"Orbital data center stage (company-claimed)","value":"The upper stage stays in orbit as a megawatt-class data center, 132 m by 73 m deployed, carrying five racks of NVIDIA Vera Rubin GPUs."},{"label":"Launch timeline (company-claimed, Oct 2026)","value":"First Big Iron flight targeted for 2028. Reason-1 launched Oct 1 2026 to test laser power beaming; Reason-2 in 2027 is to run GPUs in orbit."},{"label":"Stampede constellation filing (company-stated)","value":"Filed an FCC application for a 20,000-satellite constellation called Stampede."},{"label":"Big Iron Express (company-stated, Oct 2026)","value":"Opened launch services to government and third-party payloads that need megawatt-class power in orbit."}],"aliases":["Cowboy Space","Cowboy Space Corporation"],"collisionRisk":"low","reviewNote":null,"atsProvider":null,"atsSlug":null,"factoryLocations":null,"manufacturingCapacity":null,"orgType":null,"burnSignal":null,"litigationEvents":null,"insurancePostureDisclosed":null,"unitEconomicsDisclosed":null,"tickerSymbol":null,"stockExchange":null,"secCik":null,"revenueUsd":null,"revenueBasis":null,"revenueAsOf":null,"employeeCount":null,"employeeCountBasis":null,"employeeCountAsOf":null,"marketCapUsd":null,"marketCapAsOf":null,"marketCapSource":null,"createdAt":"2026-08-08T18:39:53.927Z","updatedAt":"2026-10-27T15:58:28.674Z","jsonLd":{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Organization","@id":"https://registry.deploy.report/companies/aetherflux","url":"https://registry.deploy.report/companies/aetherflux","name":"Aetherflux","alternateName":["Cowboy Space","Cowboy Space Corporation"],"description":"Space-based solar power company founded by Robinhood co-founder Baiju Bhatt. Building LEO satellites to collect solar Energy and beam it to Earth via infrared lasers. HQ San Carlos, CA. USD 60M total funding including USD 50M Series A (Apr 2025) led by Index Ventures. DoD OECIF funding for power transmission proof-of-concept. First space demo in early 2026. Galactic Brain orbital data center project targeting Q1 2027.","identifier":"fcdb7390-4826-4bb9-a8e0-5bde1f624be5","foundingDate":"2024","address":"San Carlos, California, USA","publisher":{"@id":"https://deploy.report/#organization"}},"framework_metadata":{"framework_schema_version":"0.1.0","verification_status":"verified","maturity_stage":null,"lifecycle_state":null,"architectural_position":{"cohort":null,"sub_cohorts":[]},"within_cohort_verified_vs_claimed_pair":null,"cap_flags":[],"verification_depth":{"sources_count":4,"primary_source_types":[]}}}