Meta Platforms Inc. faces a power crunch. Its AI data centers gulped 18,000 gigawatt-hours in 2024 alone—enough to run 1.7 million U.S. homes for a year. Demand surges. Projections show AI infrastructure devouring even more. So the company turns to the stars. And atoms.
In a deal announced today, Meta signed with Overview Energy, a Virginia-based startup, for up to 1 gigawatt of space-based solar power. Satellites in geosynchronous orbit collect sunlight nonstop. They beam it down as safe, low-intensity near-infrared light to existing ground solar farms. No new land. No fresh grid ties. Just extended output into the night. The Next Web detailed the pact: an orbital demo by January 2028, commercial flow in 2030. Nat Sahlstrom, Meta’s vice president of energy and sustainability, called it “a transformative step forward by leveraging existing terrestrial infrastructure to deliver new, uninterrupted energy from orbit.”
Overview emerged from stealth in December 2025. Its board packs heavy hitters: Jim Bridenstine and Mike Griffin, ex-NASA administrators; Joseph Kelliher, former FERC chair. The tech sidesteps old hurdles. Microwaves need vast rectennas. Lasers spark safety fights. Near-infrared? Broad beams, eye-safe, straight to panels already built.
But space solar isn’t alone. Meta’s nuclear bet dwarfs it. January 2026 brought deals unlocking up to 6.6 gigawatts by 2035—power for five million homes. Vistra Corp. supplies from three plants: Davis-Besse and Perry in Ohio (over 2.1 gigawatts), plus upgrades at Beaver Valley in Pennsylvania (433 megawatts more). Then TerraPower, Bill Gates-backed, and Oklo, Sam Altman-favored, for advanced reactors. First ones eyed for 2030-2032. Meta’s blog framed it as fueling the Prometheus supercluster in New Albany, Ohio—a one-gigawatt AI beast due online this year. “Nuclear energy will help power our AI future,” said chief global affairs officer Joel Kaplan.
Prometheus ties in. The Ohio campus gets nuclear juice. Louisiana’s Hyperion? Gas plants for now—10 of them, matching five million homes’ draw, per X posts buzzing today. Critics howl pollution. Meta pushes ahead.
And renewables stack up. Meta matched 100% of 2024 use with clean buys. Goal: 30 gigawatts capacity. Invenergy deals added 791 megawatts solar and wind in June 2025, totaling 1.8 gigawatts with them. A June 2025 Constellation pact revives Illinois’s Clinton plant for 20 years. Wall Street Journal noted the speed: reactors faster than typical projects. Bloomberg pegged costs high—$141 to $220 per megawatt-hour versus $50-$60 for gas or wind. Yet reliability wins. Solar dips at night. Wind falters. Nuclear hums 24/7.
Challenges loom. Space solar? No commercial system exists worldwide. Overview’s airborne demo worked; orbit’s tougher—build, launch, maintain. Meta risks little: undisclosed terms, low reservation cost. Nuclear faces regs, timelines. Oklo’s 75-megawatt Ohio reactor awaits approval. ESG Today highlighted U.S.-focus from Meta’s 2024 RFP.
AI drives this. Zuckerberg’s Prometheus powers next-gen models. Data centers balloon: Hyperion in Louisiana, more Ohio builds. X chatter today links space solar to Noon Energy storage—1 gigawatt/100 gigawatt-hours, 100-hour hold, 2028 pilot. Endless power loop.
Big Tech leads. Microsoft, Google, Amazon chase nuclear too. Meta joins the pack, biggest corporate buyer yet. Grids strain. U.S. power demand jumps, AI first. States fast-track gas for Meta sites.
Risks mount. Gas bridges gaps but emits. Nuclear builds jobs—thousands constructing, hundreds operating. Space? Unproven. But Meta plans years ahead. Data centers launch operational-ready.
Competition bites. OpenAI eyes 26 gigawatts. Meta counters with orbit and fission. Clean goals hold: full costs paid, no consumer pass-through. Grid bolsters too.
One molecule strains—methane for gas, fertilizers, heat. AI bids highest. Markets choose. Servers over fields.
Meta’s path: nuclear now, space tomorrow. Gigawatts secured. AI marches on.
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