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

[Ptah]

16:36 long video by Scott Manley

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:
https://www.lumenorbit.com/

[Arne]

1. To the moon.

[pfitz59]

2. What could go wrong?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skynet_(Terminator)

[Ptah]

4. If you watch the video, you'll find out.

[Gore1FL]

3. It seems like relativity and latency would play a negative role in all of this. nt

[Ptah]

5. It is covered in the video linked.

[Basso8vb]

6. No

Unless you don't plan to maintain them.

[Ptah]

7. Did you watch the sixteen minutes in the eleven minutes since I posted?

[SWBTATTReg]

8. Sounds perhaps workable, but I don't know. I worked in IT for a long time, and it seems that there were always

software patches, upgrades, etc. to apply, as well as there being a little less frequent hardware changes (which would be the hardest thing to apply, unless they put the center on a regularly visited space platform.)

Also, making sure that 24x7 power was always available (thus, huge generators were always on tap, ready to go at a moment's notice).

Don't get me wrong, one of the biggest factors in running a data center is the huge amount of cooling needed (lots of stuff running), lots of interconnectivity needed between modules etc. (thus why most data centers have floors that pop up, w/ a couple or several feet of space underneath).

$2.4 million won't go a long way, so perhaps they've got more cash/funds coming in.

[erronis]

9. Really enjoying the video. The chap seems to know his stuff.

[Ptah]

10. He's one of my favorite science presenters.

https://www.youtube.com/@scottmanley

Scott Manley is someone who fell into youtube because he felt a deep compelling need to teach people orbital mechanics and rocket science so they could play Kerbal Space Program, now, years later the gaming videos are less important and the pure science is the main thrust. My degrees are all in Physics and Astronomy, so much of the rocket science and engineering I've learned is self taught, always learning, always teaching.