Cooling in Space • Hacker News Board

Re: Cooling in Space

#11

Post by tristanj » Sun, Jun 14, 2026, 10:45 AM UTC

pavlov wrote: post #7

tristanj wrote: post #3

Space data centers are physically possible but don't make financial sense. The total cost of an orbital datacenter over five years is at least 2–3x that of a terrestrial one. But those economics don't matter to SpaceX, because the main purpose of its orbital data centers is to create a use case for Starship. Starship has to fly frequently to iron out the kinks, encounter and fix rare (1/1000) failure situations, and…

2-3x sounds like a very low estimate. There’s so much data center capacity being built all over the Earth. Thousands of large projects across US / China / Europe / Middle East. It would be astonishing if something that’s never been done before could be so cost-competitive immediately. Starlink wasn’t the first time LEO communications constellations were attempted. Multiple 1990s projects did it (Iridium, GlobalStar…)…

SemiAnalysis' report on orbital data centers estimated 4x terrestrial costs in 2026, then parity around ~2040.

https://newsletter.semianalysis.com/p/to-boldly-go-the-case-...

Re: Cooling in Space

#12

Post by neals » Sun, Jun 14, 2026, 10:47 AM UTC

I think it's a vary valid option to launch swarms of datacenters into space. I think a few decades to a hundred years from now, it will be the norm. Until then, we can find plany of land to do it. Instead a launch, you just need a battery. Much cheaper. All the rest stays the same.

Re: Cooling in Space

#13

Post by v9v » Sun, Jun 14, 2026, 10:48 AM UTC

I'll add another to the list of relevant links in the comments: https://spectrum.ieee.org/orbital-data-centers-heat

Re: Cooling in Space

#14

Post by XorNot » Sun, Jun 14, 2026, 10:49 AM UTC

echoangle wrote: post #6

I still don’t see what the advantage is. Of course it’s physically possible to build a datacenter in space, but I can’t imagine land prices being that high that the same data center on earth wouldn’t be cheaper. Even just due to launch costs and the more sophisticated equipment needed for space.

The real issue is that the power situation in LEO is still actually terrible! Your solar is a little more performant, but you're plunged into hard shade every 45 minutes.

Re: Cooling in Space

#15

Post by athrowaway3z » Sun, Jun 14, 2026, 10:50 AM UTC

echoangle wrote: post #6

I still don’t see what the advantage is. Of course it’s physically possible to build a datacenter in space, but I can’t imagine land prices being that high that the same data center on earth wouldn’t be cheaper. Even just due to launch costs and the more sophisticated equipment needed for space.

I doubt it'll make sense any time soon, but some arguments I can think of are that solar in space can easily be ~50% more efficient at any moment while also being continuous (enough) in the right orbit.

An even more radical idea is to put nuclear in space which would sidestep all the earthly hurdles (beyond the launch).

Re: Cooling in Space

#16

Post by AnneTrotter » Sun, Jun 14, 2026, 10:51 AM UTC

Whyyyy are we not building distributed data centers under driveways? I want one under my driveway to melt the snow. It can use my power and water hookups if it pays for them.

Re: Cooling in Space

#17

Post by jdw64 » Sun, Jun 14, 2026, 10:51 AM UTC

What I don't understand about building a space data center is that you need radiators to release heat. Otherwise, it will become a space thermos. What's even more incomprehensible is that you would need specialized equipment for space radiation, and GPUs are consumables. To make that profitable, you would need pricing that is many times higher than the cost of a regular data center. I don't understand why there are people who actually fall for this. If I say this, people will call me someone who mocks others' challenges, but it seems like they're saying physical problems can be overcome too easily.

Re: Cooling in Space

#18

Post by BadBadJellyBean » Sun, Jun 14, 2026, 10:53 AM UTC

jdw64 wrote: post #17

What I don't understand about building a space data center is that you need radiators to release heat. Otherwise, it will become a space thermos. What's even more incomprehensible is that you would need specialized equipment for space radiation, and GPUs are consumables. To make that profitable, you would need pricing that is many times higher than the cost of a regular data center. I don't understand why there are p…

I have the feeling that the only reason that might actually be done is to escape from any kind of jurisdiction. In space no one can hear you compute.

Re: Cooling in Space

#19

Post by mcapodici » Sun, Jun 14, 2026, 10:53 AM UTC

Seems reasonable that the area needed would be less than the solar panels. Since it sould be more efficient to dump heat than collect energy from light.

Re: Cooling in Space

#20

Post by athrowaway3z » Sun, Jun 14, 2026, 10:55 AM UTC

XorNot wrote: post #14

echoangle wrote: post #6

I still don’t see what the advantage is. Of course it’s physically possible to build a datacenter in space, but I can’t imagine land prices being that high that the same data center on earth wouldn’t be cheaper. Even just due to launch costs and the more sophisticated equipment needed for space.

The real issue is that the power situation in LEO is still actually terrible! Your solar is a little more performant, but you're plunged into hard shade every 45 minutes.

I think calling solar a little more performant is underselling it. Once you have LEO getting to a better orbit costs relatively little. Getting from LEO to the moon is only like 30% more than getting from ground to LEO.