Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Only the third country to achieve this. What do you mean by this ?
Probably meant the third country with a private sector capability to launch rockets, US and China being the other two.
Yes, that's what I meant.
India's first privately-developed rocket reaches orbit on debut launch
181–190 of 230 posts
Re: India's first privately-developed rocket reaches orbit on debut launch
#182Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Is my borderline childish understanding of basic physics THAT off because I cannot see the value or utility (beyond a small smear of niche edge cases) of space-based compute? Don't worry, most of the people online didn't get the memo on this. One of the major selling points of orbital compute is power supply - more specifically, it turns out that, compared to beaming power from space, it's projected to be cheaper t…
My concern is more in the realms of cooling. I know there's the potential for lots of 'free' energy up there, but how do you then ensure your space-based array of GPU farms bleed all of the resultant heat?
This is like "how do you ensure you can bring back home all the groceries you bought" kind of problem. Space 101. We know how much heat we can bleed off, how, and how fast, and this gives us bounds on how much power we can use, and that is the starting point - you design everything around that.
Re: India's first privately-developed rocket reaches orbit on debut launch
#183Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Is my borderline childish understanding of basic physics THAT off because I cannot see the value or utility (beyond a small smear of niche edge cases) of space-based compute? Don't worry, most of the people online didn't get the memo on this. One of the major selling points of orbital compute is power supply - more specifically, it turns out that, compared to beaming power from space, it's projected to be cheaper t…
The unit economic tradeoffs aren't quite that straightforward (beamed power is lossy enough to require more panels[1], but solar cells and satellite structures have longer useful lives than inference chips so over longer time periods you likely end up launching more stuff into space with disposable datacentres anyway[2], particularly given the datacentres also need bigger radiators. Other issues which favour power be…
> beamed power is lossy enough to require more panels[1]
What kills that is simply costs of land. You have to put these larger rectennas somewhere, and land ain't getting cheaper.
Re: India's first privately-developed rocket reaches orbit on debut launch
#184Regarding Indian private space sector, In addition to skyroot solid rocket, following are noteworthy Agnikul is planning to launch semi-cryo kerosene rocket pretty soon. Their engine is 3d printed and use electric pump fed 25kN small engine. Planning to launch 4 clustered engines as first stage and already did suborbital test, with some parachute splash down reusability claims. Astrobase is recent entrant. With decen…
One fun fact that I coincidentally happen to know is Agnikul's office is actually very nice/fancy. They've got like an Aperture Science (or portal) theme going on, with white panelling and recessed sci fi style lights.
Oh, and everyone gets a white herman miller chair (or a very good clone).
Re: India's first privately-developed rocket reaches orbit on debut launch
#185Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's extremely unlikely that companies will find no locations that let them build zero power zero water data centers. And bulk AI stuff isn't latency sensitive either so the acceptable build radius is huge.
Most locations that could provide guaranteed power for western companies with stable governments are also full of NIMBY or NGO who could easily blockade those datacenters. Then you'll have to run to offgrid locations where you have to build 24hr battery for solar with closed loop cooling. Is 24hr battery+solar on earth cheaper than LEO satellites in constant sun without batteries? That's the question that would make…
> Is 24hr battery+solar on earth cheaper than LEO satellites in constant sun without batteries?
I'll be shocked if it isn't.
Re: India's first privately-developed rocket reaches orbit on debut launch
#186Earlier quoted context omitted.
Also, Pixxel, Skyroot, and Agnikul are targeting orbital data center launches this year for defense applications (which is what the entire ODC story is about). The US NRO already uses India's Pixxel [0] along with Finland's ICEYE (which is now co-manufacturing synthetic aperture sats in India with Agnikul [1]) for hyperspectral scanning. Edit: can't reply > But.. why? Missile Defense and C4ISR [2]. Seconds matter, so…
This borders on science fiction. 88,000-and 1-million satellite clusters (as claimed in your link) are hard to take seriously, especially with the possibility of Kessler Syndrome. Also: 1. How do you cool your chips? Vacuum is a thermal insulator, so radiators are required to remove heat. nVidia (or even ASICs) require much and specialised cooling. 2. How does one radiation harden a H100? 3. I'm also seeing where TCO…
Why do you need radiation hardening? We don't need hyper deterministic systems in those setups.
Re: India's first privately-developed rocket reaches orbit on debut launch
#187Earlier quoted context omitted.
The unit economic tradeoffs aren't quite that straightforward (beamed power is lossy enough to require more panels[1], but solar cells and satellite structures have longer useful lives than inference chips so over longer time periods you likely end up launching more stuff into space with disposable datacentres anyway[2], particularly given the datacentres also need bigger radiators. Other issues which favour power be…
> beamed power is lossy enough to require more panels[1] What kills that is simply costs of land. You have to put these larger rectennas somewhere, and land ain't getting cheaper.
Non-exclusive use of farmland or wasteland (or even - at least until maintenance complexity is considered - offshore) isn't a major barrier; we have many many miles of wires and pylons crossing farmland for regular terrestrial grids already. A rectenna looks more like a mesh than a set of panels: the idea is that the visible light spectrum passes through and the target microwave frequencies don't, so unlike a photovoltaic solar farm the land underneath is fine for farming. Nominally the land is safe to be occupied or passed through by humans too, although they might take some convincing. It becomes a problem when people start trying to get the rectennae banned...
Re: India's first privately-developed rocket reaches orbit on debut launch
#188Earlier quoted context omitted.
> beamed power is lossy enough to require more panels[1] What kills that is simply costs of land. You have to put these larger rectennas somewhere, and land ain't getting cheaper.
Non-exclusive use of farmland or wasteland (or even - at least until maintenance complexity is considered - offshore) isn't a major barrier; we have many many miles of wires and pylons crossing farmland for regular terrestrial grids already. A rectenna looks more like a mesh than a set of panels: the idea is that the visible light spectrum passes through and the target microwave frequencies don't, so unlike a photovo…
> Non-exclusive use of farmland or wasteland (or even - at least until maintenance complexity is considered - offshore) isn't a major barrier
Not now, but with solar power output doubling every few years how long before we run out of land?
Re: India's first privately-developed rocket reaches orbit on debut launch
#189Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Only the third country to achieve this. What do you mean by this ?
Probably meant the third country with a private sector capability to launch rockets, US and China being the other two.
Re: India's first privately-developed rocket reaches orbit on debut launch
#190Earlier quoted context omitted.
Rocket Lab is a US company, they would not have been able to build what they did without full ITAR and MTCR compliance.
Maybe you need to let them know. They were founded in NZ by a NZer, they launch from NZ, their employees are NZers. Calling them a US company is equivalent to saying Google is Irish.
You should let RocketLab know that they are wrong about themselves