American startup Cowboy Space, renamed from Aetherflux in May 2026 and founded just two years ago, has unveiled the design of its own partially reusable Big Iron launch vehicle. The company, which until recently remained virtually unknown in the commercial launch market, announced its intention not only to build a rocket capable of competing with Falcon 9 but also to deploy an orbital data center in near-Earth space designed for 20,000 server modules. Cowboy Space CEO Bayu Bhatt stated in an interview that the company has already begun negotiations to replace Falcon 9 rockets in the commercial launch market, making the announcement particularly notable against the backdrop of SpaceX's public pledge to phase out Falcon 9 starting in 2028.
Technical Specifications of Big Iron
The presented Big Iron project is a two-stage rocket approximately 86 meters tall with a reusable first-stage booster. The propulsion system includes nine Clydesdale engines running on liquid methane and liquid oxygen. According to the developers, the rocket is capable of delivering more than 15 tons of payload to a sun-synchronous orbit. The design incorporates solutions for reusing structural elements, which should reduce manufacturing and launch costs. The first rocket is scheduled to be built by the end of 2027, with the inaugural launch slated for 2028. At the time of presentation, Big Iron exists at the design stage, and the claimed characteristics have yet to be confirmed by testing.
Orbital Datacenter: The Stampede Concept
The Big Iron project is viewed not just as a launch vehicle, but as the foundation for deploying orbital data centers. Cowboy Space has already filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to place 20,000 servers or mini-datacenters for the Stampede project. The second, upper stage of the rocket is being designed from the outset as an autonomous server module, although modifications for deploying third-party payloads will also be provided. Each server within the upper stage will be equipped with five racks of Nvidia Vera Rubin accelerators, creating a megawatt-class compute node. Heat dissipation will be handled by deployable radiators, and the stage's structure will serve as a mounting base for cooling systems and solar panels.
Space-Based Power Transmission and Reason Missions
As an optional feature, solar energy harvested in space can be beamed back to Earth or used to power satellites. The company previously submitted a corresponding application for this activity to the FCC; in this scenario, the server equipment on the upper stage would be replaced with power transmission equipment while retaining the solar array. A practical step in this direction has already been taken: Cowboy Space launched the experimental Reason-1 spacecraft into low Earth orbit, designed to test laser power beaming from orbit to Earth. The next mission, Reason-2, is scheduled for 2027 and aims to test graphics processors in space for commercial and government computing tasks.
Context: What's Happening with Falcon 9 and the Launch Market
Cowboy Space's announcement comes amid significant shifts in SpaceX's strategy. Elon Musk's company publicly announced the discontinuation of Falcon 9 launches starting in 2028 and is not signing new launch contracts beyond that date. This causes concern not only among private clients who cannot plan long-term operations, but also at NASA and the Pentagon. At the same time, SpaceX has extended contracts with NASA for astronaut delivery to the ISS that will continue past 2028, and is transitioning its launch activities to the fully reusable Spaceship platform. Thus, formally neither NASA, the Pentagon, nor private clients will be left without access to orbit. Nevertheless, the emergence of a potential competitor or successor to Falcon 9 is perceived by the market as an additional diversification factor.
Competition and Timeline Realism
Against the backdrop of setbacks by other market players—such as Boeing Starliner's failed launches, ULA's problems with the Vulcan rocket, NASA's massive spending on the SLS moon rocket, and the yet-unrealized ambitions of Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin—Cowboy Space positions Big Iron as an alternative that "will definitely be built." However, experts and observers remain skeptical: the company was founded just two years ago, its first flight is targeted for 2028, and the claimed specs have not been validated by any testing. The question of whether a startup unknown until recently can realistically compete with SpaceX's established infrastructure in such a tight timeframe remains open. Stock markets, analysts note, are primarily reacting to the mere fact of a potential competitor's appearance, but the practical realization of the Big Iron project will require confirmation through testing and initial launches.
