Hypothetically, can we also put the CEOs of the AI companies on these orbital platforms?
Ask HN: Are orbital data centers possible / a good idea?
31–40 of 46 posts
Re: Ask HN: Are orbital data centers possible / a good idea?
#32The only advantage I can see is extraterritoriality and lack of effective legal oversight.
Re: Ask HN: Are orbital data centers possible / a good idea?
#33Earlier quoted context omitted.
> It still needs power, you’re most likely going to do it with solar if you’re on earth orbit but that isn’t free and you will have periods of no sunlight so a significant amount of batteries will be needed. SpaceX will be putting them in sun-synchronous orbit, meaning always sunlight.
How would they handle eclipses?
the only "eclipse" in sun-synchronous orbit is when moon is between the satellite and the sun, which is very rare and lasts less than a minute.
Re: Ask HN: Are orbital data centers possible / a good idea?
#34If we couldn't make underwater datacenters work, I doubt it's half as easy to make space-based ones work.
China has a couple going at the moment.
Re: Ask HN: Are orbital data centers possible / a good idea?
#35Is it a better or worse idea than doing putting them in the ocean? https://panthalassa.com/
Much easier than putting stuff into space. See project Natick for details.
Does it make more sense than ground based data centers? Not sure.
Re: Ask HN: Are orbital data centers possible / a good idea?
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
> It still needs power, you’re most likely going to do it with solar if you’re on earth orbit but that isn’t free and you will have periods of no sunlight so a significant amount of batteries will be needed. SpaceX will be putting them in sun-synchronous orbit, meaning always sunlight.
How would they handle eclipses?
I wonder if "battelites" might be profitable. Like an pay-per-usage energy grid in space with battery backup that can beam power around to other satellites that might not have easy access to power, or have their power grids temporarily obstructed.
Re: Ask HN: Are orbital data centers possible / a good idea?
#37They are a great idea and they are technically possible. But the cost is currently unknown and the maybe impossible from a business case perspective. Its not going to happen tomorrow, there is still years of r&d ahead.
why is it a great idea though? My question was basically what are the actual pros of doing it in space? I still haven't heard a good explanation.
Re: Ask HN: Are orbital data centers possible / a good idea?
#38Starlink is currently comprised of satellites in space, with computers inside, and laser links. So it's "just" a matter of upsizing them with more everything. More solar panels, more computers/GPUs, more cooling, etc.
If your business is selling transport to space, drumming up a new line of business makes sense. If material science keeps progressing, (the metal used in a 2026 car did not exist 10 years ago. Nor did 2026 solar panels.) the values in the equations change. Whether they change enough to justify launching into space remains to be seen. Gigafactory to make batteries for Tesla seemed like an insane investment when it was announced, but makes a lot of sense in hindsight.
Re: Ask HN: Are orbital data centers possible / a good idea?
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
How would they handle eclipses?
the only "eclipse" in sun-synchronous orbit is when moon is between the satellite and the sun, which is very rare and lasts less than a minute.
Yes, but it’s a guaranteed event, so it needs to be accounted for if you’re serious about engineering.
The accounting could just be, we accept that downtime, it’s all calculated in advance and we’ll prepare the system for it, but it still needs to be considered.
Re: Ask HN: Are orbital data centers possible / a good idea?
#40They are impractical on the ground. Why anyone would think this is a good idea is byond me.