Does It Make Sense To Put Data Centers In Space? Can They Really Cost Less To Operate?

Lumen Orbit raised 2.4 million dollars from investors based on the notion of putting data centers in space, computers that could be used to train AI, or maybe mine crypto. Their argument is that at low enough launch costs the ability to get 24/7 solar power makes power much cheaper to the point that it's worth the cost of the launch:

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[jmc]

the collision of "scamming investors for seed funding with a space startup" and "scamming investors for seed funding with an AI startup" was inevitable

[Rubrickety]

Instead of this piecemeal approach of "data centers in space", "precision manufacturing in space", etc., I propose we aim big and simply put the entire planet in space.

[dakota]

Meanwhile Microsoft commissioned a nuclear reactor for power. Probably cheaper

[ForrestTessen]

How many times have I rushed out to the data center to replace a failed Ethernet cable or swap out a bad stick of RAM? Countless. These small but critical issues always seem to happen at the most inconvenient times—late at night, during high-stakes projects, or when you least expect it. Each time, it’s a reminder of how even the smallest components in a system can bring an entire network or server to a halt.

[freekeefox]

"I'm surprised at the people who funded this" is an such nice way of saying "Oh my God what a dumb idea"

[CorwynGC]

I love that since cooling is "more efficient" it will cost 0 dollars.

[nazamroth]

My first thought when I read this idea: You want to put infamously heat sensitive and heat-producing things into orbit to help them cool better.... in the place where it takes the most effort to keep cool? And based on those renders, they are not even using a sun-shield?

[toxaq]

Imagine the AWS bill if you accidentally selected the LEO-01 data center...

[engunneer]

A note about AI chips (NPUs) in phones and such: they are designed to /run/ the models that were trained in the big data centers. The training part still takes a huge amount of compute.

[Michaelzehr]

They forgot to add "block chain" to their pitch.

But seriously, biggest problem in a data center is keeping things cool, and one of the hard problems in space is keeping things cool. I'm not sure what problem they think they're solving?

Electricity is likely to get cheaper over time on earth, but more expensive over time in space, as you have fixed equipment that slowly degrades.
Speaking of which, AI chips are changing very quickly. Those chips, even if they are shielded, will not be state of the art in 20 years.
And with a falcon launch costing $50m, I'm not impressed that they've raised $2.4m (which will be for design and analysis).

(I'm not saying anything particularly insightful... but it's really hard to beat system trends. Here's another one, just back of the envelope, a water cooling rig for a PC can weigh 1kg and cost $200, but the launch cost might be $2000, so that's extra cost to take into account. Even though a water cooling loop with a fan and a ammonia-based radiator are radically different, it might still be illustrative of how much more expensive it is to cool things in space.)

[Antarez]

As someone who works with a company with a large number of DCs across the Americas, I'd love to see their poor L1 techs trying to arrange a site access case for devices literally in space. God forbid someone locks themselves out of a device with a networking change, that'd be the most expensive remote hands ticket you could imagine.

[slowercuber]

13:25 LOL did you do this whole video just to make the “data bus” Dad joke? Worth it.

[grantbent]

Incredibly entertaining to have Scott Manley launch the first episode of a space-oriented Shark Tank.

[Minty]

oh my, a silicon valley startup with a name made of between 1 and 3 industry relevant words coming up with a completely unreasonable idea with no plan to finance it besides investors? where have i heard this before?

[jackielinde]

"Data Death Star" - Now I'm picturing a moon sized satellite wiping out a small city and a tech on board says, "Here's those files you requested."

[ArKritz]

Only, and I do mean ONLY if they call it Skynet.

[Sweenus]

Humanity's first giga structure in space is going to be a giant computer full of cat videos...

[Wayde-VANCA]

Time to update the 70's wisdom about never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon full of tapes.... For the 2020's ; a rocket full of SSD's??? All these decades though, and still hasn't done anything for the latency!

[zarbizaure]

AOCS engineer here. I'm wondering as to how they could keep such a massive structure stable. I think you can forget reaction wheels and CMGs, and monoprop thruster as it would be a massive propellant budget to counteract the SRP (solar radiation pressure). I see 3 possible solutions:
1) They built it to be passively stable, i.e. by folding back slightly the solar array (have it flying in the solar wind like a badminton birdie). No roll control this way, but maybe this is acceptable if the servicing shuttle can approach from any angle / if the HGA to Earth are multidirectional or orientable. Cheapest and most robust solution in my opinion.
2) You use electric hall effect thruster placed at the end of each boom to produce torque (and also do minimal maintenance). Downside is the need for a full propulsion system + reduced payload power when it is active.
3) you set each of the external solar array on servomotors and the AOCS orients each of the array to control the SRP and compensate for the offpointing. Very slow control but could be enough to be stable at this scale.

Option 2 / 3 offer more controllability but are an order of magnitude more complicated than what is done on commercial satellites. Ionic thrusters can be quite prone to malfunctions and need redundant systems, the same goes for large solar array actuators.
(Anyway: I don't trust this project at all, but interesting to look at it)

[linecraftman]

Another fun part is that this 4km wide data center will literally be bigger than the moon in the sky
Would be pretty cool to see it with naked eye