SpaceX offers details on orbital data center satellites

spacenews.com

“For some reason there’s been a bizarre debate about radiators in space,” he said. “It’s safe to say SpaceX knows how to do heat rejection in space with 10,000 satellites in orbit.”

As yes the Musk hand wave. We have done some cool things thus we get a pass on other things.

I'm sure they can manage heat issues so long as the scale of these satellites are very modest.

Yeah like who is this dude, a titan of industry? The richest man in the world? All my Reddit homies hate him lol

I’m no fan of Elon, but come on. The problem people are facing when they decide this is impossible is that they’re picturing a terrestrial data center strapped to a rocket and dropped off in space.

If instead you picture a satellite with some compute modules in it you’re good. Can a satellite generate power? (Yes) can a satellite scrub heat equal to the amount it can generate with solar panels? (I don’t know, ask someone who has done it successfully a few times)

Unless you've got some magic beans that turn "some compute modules" into a significant fraction of an earthbound data center, and you can fly acres of solar panels and radiators around space debris, it really doesn't look plausible.

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