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Datacenters in space aren't going to work

taranis.ie

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Re: Datacenters in space aren't going to work

#51

Post by wiz21c »

cuuupid wrote: post #20

I don't agree with the logic that "something is hard/can't be done right now" is equivalent to "this is a terrible idea and won't work." There are dozens of companies solving each problem outlined here; if we never attempt the 'hard' thing we will never progress. The author could have easily taken a tone of 'these are all the things that are hard that we will need to solve first' but actively chose to take the 'catas…

From: https://engine.xyz/resident-companies/northwood-space

> Unlike traditional parabolic dish antennas, our phased array antenna can connect with multiple satellites simultaneously.

if that's how they plan to reach more than 1Gbps, then that's not 100Gbps per satellite, that's 100 for a collection of satellites.

Starlink is about 100Mbps. That's 1000x times less than 100Gbps

Re: Datacenters in space aren't going to work

#52

Post by oskarkk »

Waterluvian wrote: post #40
doctorzook wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is it my job to train the machines?

If you would kindly consult your Human HR Universal Handbook (2025 Edition) and navigate to section 226.8.2F, you’ll be gently reminded that it’s the responsibility of any and all employees to train their replacements.

Human Human Resources?

Re: Datacenters in space aren't going to work

#54

Post by yardie »

smokel wrote: post #33
yardie wrote: post #4

I asked Google for more information about AI datacenter in space. This was the first sentence, 'AI data centers are being developed in space to handle the massive energy demands of AI, using solar power and the vacuum of space for cooling.' > After laughing at "the vacuum of space for cooling" I closed the page because there was nothing serious there. Basic high school physics student would be laughing at that senten…

You could help by using the thumbs down button below the answer.

AI is a tool. If it doesn't work I'm not going to fix the tool; I'd rather find another tool that can do the job.

Re: Datacenters in space aren't going to work

#55

Post by burnt-resistor »

- Costs to keep it in orbit.

- More junk whizzing around Earth.

- Inaccessibility for maintenance.

- Power costs.

- Susceptibility to solar storms and cosmic rays.

Risky/untried things aren't dumb because they're hard, they're dumb when they're more expensive/harder than cheaper/easier alternatives that already exist that do the same thing.

Re: Datacenters in space aren't going to work

#57

Post by throaway123213 »

yardie wrote: post #4

I asked Google for more information about AI datacenter in space. This was the first sentence, 'AI data centers are being developed in space to handle the massive energy demands of AI, using solar power and the vacuum of space for cooling.' > After laughing at "the vacuum of space for cooling" I closed the page because there was nothing serious there. Basic high school physics student would be laughing at that senten…

I'mma guess that AI mixed up "datacenter" with "Dyson" to get nonsensical returns involving both vacuums AND space!

Re: Datacenters in space aren't going to work

#58

Post by nradov »

cuuupid wrote: post #20

I don't agree with the logic that "something is hard/can't be done right now" is equivalent to "this is a terrible idea and won't work." There are dozens of companies solving each problem outlined here; if we never attempt the 'hard' thing we will never progress. The author could have easily taken a tone of 'these are all the things that are hard that we will need to solve first' but actively chose to take the 'catas…

Cooling data centers in space effectively can't be done right now … or ever.

Re: Datacenters in space aren't going to work

#59

Post by creatonez »

awei wrote: post #15

The one thing that space has going for itself is space. You could have way bigger datacenters than on Earth and just leave them there, assuming Starship makes it cheap enough to get them there. I think it would maybe make sense if 2 things: - We are sure we will need a lot of gpus for the next 30-40 years. - We can make the solar panels + cooling + GPUs have a great life expectancy, so that we can just leave them up…

What use is having lots of space, when to actually build out that space you need mass, which is absurdly expensive to launch?

Re: Datacenters in space aren't going to work

#60

Post by aunty_helen »

I agree with most of this post and think the problems are harder than the proponents are making them seem.

But, 1) literally the smartest people and AI in the world will be working on this and 2) man I want to see us get to a type 2 civilisation bad.

The layout of this blog post is also very interesting, it presents a bunch of very hard items to solve and funny enough the last has been solved recently with starlink. So we can approach this problem, it requires great engineering but it’s possible. Maybe it’s as complicated as CERNs LHC but we have one of those.

Next up then is the strong why? When you’re in space, if you set the cost of electricity to zero, the equation gets massively skewed.

Thermal is the biggest challenge but if you have unlimited electricity, lots of stuff becomes possible. Fluorinert cooling, piezoelectric pumps and dual/multi stage cooling loops with step ups. We can put liquid cooling with piezos on phones now, so that technology is moving in the right direction.

For a thought experiment, if launch costs were $0/kg, would this be possible? If the answers yes, then at some point above $0/kg it becomes uneconomical, the challenge is then to beat that number.

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