Data centres are controversial: will launching them into space help?

"The networks would act in a similar way to the interconnected computers inside data centres on Earth, which process, store and transmit data on a massive scale. Putting these 'orbital data centres' into space could, in theory, address concerns about their energy and water consumption, and their occupation of wide swathes of land."

"Data centres on Earth have become so environmentally taxing that communities and politicians are taking action against them. For example, the board of trustees for a township in the US state of Michigan voted last week to institute a one-year moratorium on the delivery of water to hyperscale data centres."

"Engineers at the space-technology company Starcloud in Redmond, Washington, published a white paper arguing that orbital data centres are 'feasible, economically viable, and necessary to realize the potential of AI'."

Companies like SpaceX, Google, and Blue Origin are developing plans to launch satellite constellations into low Earth orbit to function as data centres. These orbital data centres could mitigate environmental issues related to energy and water consumption on Earth. They would utilize solar energy and the cold environment of space for cooling. Growing opposition to Earth-based data centres has prompted this shift, with some communities implementing moratoriums on water delivery to these facilities. Researchers believe the realization of this technology may take longer than anticipated.

Read at Nature