Microsoft Abandoned 2015 Undersea Data Center After Technical Success Citing Cost Constraints
Microsoft deployed a container-sized undersea data center off Scotland in 2015 under “Project Natick,” achieving all technical targets with natural seawater cooling and offshore power sources. The initiative was abandoned over two years ago due to insufficient client demand and unviable economics, underscoring risks of expensive, non-upgradable modular compute units.
1. Project Natick Overview
In 2015 Microsoft submerged a shipping-container-sized data center module off the coast of Scotland aiming to leverage natural seawater cooling and offshore wind and tidal power to reduce energy consumption and logistical constraints.
2. Technical Success and Economic Challenges
Although the undersea facility met every performance and reliability metric during its trial, it was decommissioned more than two years ago due to lack of customer uptake and prohibitive deployment and maintenance costs.
3. Lessons for Orbital Data Center Projects
The sealed, locked-for-life design that prevented upgrades or repairs highlights the same modular rigidity and high launch costs that could derail SpaceX’s planned orbital data centers, especially given rapid AI chip evolution and cooling challenges in harsh environments.