With the AI boom, demand for data centre capacity is rising rapidly. McKinsey estimates global infrastructure spending on data centres through 2030 will exceed US $7 trillion, with the U.S. alone seeing demand grow at 20-25 % annually. For investors, this surge represents an extraordinary opportunity – but also rising complexity and risk. Data centres are mission-critical assets that must run continuously at peak efficiency 24/7 – downtime and inefficiency aren’t options when billions of dollars depend on it. As the scale and value of these assets grow, so does a fundamental question:
When does my asset actually go live?
Traditional monitoring relies on operator self-reporting, quarterly updates, and delayed disclosures, leaving investors flying blind during the critical months between construction completion and live activity – precisely the moment when delivery risk, cost overruns, and timeline slippage can erode returns.
The real question isn’t just a case of when a facility launches – it’s how do you verify it independently, objectively and in near real-time?
At SatVu, we answer that with independent, timestamped thermal satellite intelligence.
Go-live detection from orbit
From space, a data centre cluster tells a living story in heat. Each rooftop chiller, substation, and cooling plant emits a thermal signature that shifts with workload, grid demand, and efficiency. These shifts are objective, timestamped proof that a facility has transitioned from construction to operation – often visible days or weeks before public announcements or quarterly disclosures.
If a planned Q3 go-live slips into Q4, the thermal signature will reflect that delay. When a hyperscaler claims a new campus is operational, but only one asset is drawing power, we see the gap. After months of anticipation, when cooling systems finally activate and IT load ramps, our satellites capture that moment from orbit.
Our 3.5 m-resolution thermal satellite imagery flags these changes from orbit, giving investors independent verification of facility status, without relying on operator reports or site visits. With a continuous, autonomous layer of oversight that works 24/7, regardless of weather, staffing, or network connectivity, when data centres go live – or don’t – you see it first.
Your continuous thermal audit
With billions of dollars and global portfolios at stake, our high-resolution thermal data helps you to strengthen critical infrastructure – and entire portfolios – from orbit.
By monitoring facilities continuously, we translate thermal signatures into actionable investment intelligence, so you can:
It's like having a continuous thermal audit of global data centres – objective, remote, and in near real-time.
From facility-wide overviews to asset level insights
SatVu's thermal imagery works at two scales, giving you both the forest view and the trees:
With a scene size of 16 km2, our high-res imagery offers you a clear image of the overall facility, giving you the opportunity to identify facility-wide patterns: is the entire facility live or just one area? Are cooling systems distributed as designed? Is the operator's capacity claim consistent with thermal activity?
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At the second scale, our thermal imagery then allows you to zoom in on specific parts of the site, as demonstrated with this image of a flagship data centre of a bitcoin mining company in Rockdale, Texas:
Zoom in on the electrical yard, and thermal signals reveal exactly which substations units and proxy assets (HVAC, generators, and other assets) are active and under load. For investors conducting due diligence or monitoring portfolio performance, this precision is invaluable. You can confirm that contracted infrastructure exists, and operates as agreed, spot efficiency issues that might signal maintenance costs, and independently assess facility health.
With both a high-level overview and asset-level insight, SatVu enables monitoring across global portfolios, with the ability to focus rapidly on specific sites when activity or anomalies require closer analysis.
The bottom line
The data centre expansion boom is here – and it's moving faster than traditional monitoring and reporting can keep up. Investors waiting weeks for go-live confirmation. Operators flying blind to hidden inefficiencies. Regulators lacking real-time visibility. The cost of guesswork compounds across every facility, every region, every quarter.
Thermal satellite intelligence changes that. It gives you independent eyes in the sky to see what's actually happening across your global portfolio – from orbit, in near real-time, 24/7. No more waiting for quarterly reports. No more surprises when announced go-live dates slip. No more wondering if claimed capacity matches operational reality.
In a market where efficiency is profit and uptime is non-negotiable, thermal intelligence isn't a nice-to-have. It's your competitive edge.
Learn how SatVu gives investors independent, real-time visibility into global data centre expansion, get in touch with thomas.cobti@satellitevu.com
