Musk's million data centers in space won't fly, say experts

"SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has announced plans to put a million data centers in space, a program he hopes will help meet the growing demand for existing facilities on earth driven by the increasing use of AI. Experts, however, have dismissed the idea of data centers in space as completely impractical. Thermal management is one problem they will face: data centers generate enormous heat and because space is a vacuum there would no easy way for that heat to dissipate: it can't be shed through conduction or convection as in terrestrial data centers, only through radiation."

"Thermal management is one problem they will face: data centers generate enormous heat and because space is a vacuum there would no easy way for that heat to dissipate: it can't be shed through conduction or convection as in terrestrial data centers, only through radiation."

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced plans to place a million data centers in space to help meet rising demand for terrestrial computing capacity driven by artificial intelligence. Experts have dismissed the proposal as impractical because of fundamental engineering challenges. Thermal management poses a major obstacle: data centers produce enormous heat, and the vacuum of space prevents heat removal through conduction or convection. Heat could only be shed by radiation, which is far less efficient and would require large radiators, substantial mass, or novel cooling techniques. Power delivery, latency, launch cost, and reliability in the space environment also create significant barriers.

Read at Computerworld