"For one thing, the systems he imagines process data relatively slowly compared to those on terra firma. They'd be constantly bombarded by radiation, and "obsolescence would be a problem" because making repairs or upgrades would be confoundingly difficult. Hajimiri believes that data centers in space could, someday, be a viable solution but hesitates to say when that day might come. "Definitely it would be doable in a few years," he said. "The question is how effective they would be, and how cost-effective they would become.""
""A lot of people are saying data centers don't belong in the desert," Lee said. But "if this is truly a national priority," then the focus must be on "putting federal research and development dollars into looking at data centers that will exist in space. And that may sound wild to you all and a little science fiction, but it's actually happening.""
"That's true, but it's happening on an experimental scale, not an industrial one. A startup called Starcloud hoped to launch a refrigerator-sized satellite housing a few Nvidia chips in August, but the launch date was pushed back. Lonestar Data Systems landed a miniature data center, carrying precious information like an Imagine Dragons song, on the moon a few months ago, though the lander tipped over and died in the attempt. More such launches are planned for the coming months."
Space-based data centers would process data more slowly than terrestrial centers and face continuous radiation exposure, making repairs or upgrades confoundingly difficult and creating obsolescence risks. Viable operation is considered possible within years, but effectiveness and cost-effectiveness remain uncertain. Some elected officials advocate federal research and development investment to explore orbiting data centers. Demonstrations so far are experimental rather than industrial: startups have planned refrigerator-sized satellite servers, and a miniature lunar data center landed but tipped over and failed. Additional launches are planned, but experts say predicting economic feasibility and timelines is very difficult.
Read at WIRED
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