[Eric Berger] Elon Musk on data centers in orbit: “SpaceX will be doing this”
After Ars wrote a story on the potential of autonomous assembly to construct large data centers in space, Musk responded on X by saying that Starlink satellites could be used for this purpose.
“Simply scaling up Starlink V3 satellites, which have high speed laser links would work,” he said on the social media site X. “SpaceX will be doing this.”
Musk’s interest in space-based data centers significantly raises the profile of the nascent industry. Proponents of the idea say the advantages are clear: free, limitless power from the Sun and none of the messy environmental costs of building these facilities on Earth (where opposition is starting to grow). Critics say it is economically impractical to build these facilities in space and that supporters underestimate the technology needed to make it work.
![[Eric Berger] Elon Musk on data centers in orbit: “SpaceX will be doing this”](https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/c40c49d3-62ea-4360-9405-2b8aa188dbed.jpeg)
https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/10/elon-musk-on-data-centers-in-orbit-spacex-will-be-doing-this/Open linkView original on sh.itjust.works
Tons of grifty founders are popping champagne after this one
Maybe some bigger Starlinks building in some CDN and edge compute capabilities could be worthwhile? But that's very different from Y Combinator renderings of Starship sized data centers linked to acres of solar panels.
Don't data centers use thousands of gallons of water for cooling? Heat is problem number two after power to solve with computers. Sure there are radiators and such that can get rid of heat but without doing any math I expect it to be 80% radiators lol.
Would it not be possible to leverage how cold it is that high up in the atmosphere?
That's the problem in the vacuum of space. It's a vacuum, so heat dissipation is slow because there is nowhere for the heat energy to transfer to.
Edit: the above relates to convection. Radiation still works on the non-sunward sides.
That's not really how that works. It might be cool in the shade but not in the sun. ISS varies from 250F to -250F based on sun vs shade. There is so little air that high up (where a satellite would orbit) There is no air for convection or conduction you can only radiate heat away. And you can't just park it in the shade for various reasons.
So that they can fall out of the sky every few months? What a waste of money. How is this guy even rich? It makes no sense.
They're in low orbit to minimise ping, like anything in low orbit they die after running out of propellant
Things in medium orbits also die when they run out of ability to raise their orbit (notably the ISS, if left alone it would fall to earth in several decades), the low orbits make cleanup of the exhausted satellites happen quickly
All in all it's a good thing
If you like the thought of burning large quantities of tech at high altitudes as a business model.
I like it a lot more than satellites that become long lasting space junk