Robinhood Markets co-founder Baiju Bhatt has launched Cowboy Space Corporation to build rockets for orbital data centers [1, 2].

The venture addresses a critical bottleneck in the space economy by creating dedicated launch capacity for computing facilities. As the demand for orbital processing grows, the current lack of available rockets threatens the scalability of space-based data infrastructure [3, 4].

Cowboy Space raised $275 million in a funding round announced on May 11, 2026 [1, 2]. The startup is backed by investor Tim Draper, who is betting on Bhatt's transition from financial technology to aerospace [2].

Bhatt discussed the new innovation frontier during an interview at the historic HP Garage in Palo Alto, California [5]. The choice of location underscores the company's goal of mirroring the disruptive spirit of early Silicon Valley pioneers.

The company intends to build its own rockets to ensure that data centers can reach orbit without relying on third-party providers [3, 4]. By controlling both the transport and the destination, Cowboy Space aims to streamline the deployment of high-performance computing in space.

This strategy targets the specific shortage of launch vehicles capable of delivering the heavy hardware required for orbital servers [3]. The funding will support the development of these specialized rockets, and the infrastructure needed to maintain orbital data centers [1, 2].

“Cowboy Space raised $275 million in a funding round”

The entry of a fintech veteran like Bhatt into the aerospace sector signals a shift toward the 'industrialization' of low Earth orbit. By integrating launch capabilities with data center deployment, Cowboy Space is attempting to create a vertical monopoly over the orbital computing supply chain, reducing the dependency on existing launch providers like SpaceX.