this post was submitted on 16 Jul 2026
77 points (88.9% liked)

Technology

86417 readers
3091 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.

Our Rules

  1. Follow the lemmy.world rules.
  2. Only tech related news or articles.
  3. Be excellent to each other!
  4. Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
  5. Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
  6. Politics threads may be removed.
  7. No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
  8. Only approved bots from the list below, this includes using AI responses and summaries. To ask if your bot can be added please contact a mod.
  9. Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed
  10. Accounts 7 days and younger will have their posts automatically removed.

Approved Bots

founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
L3s@lemmy.world
enu@lemmy.world
technopagan@lemmy.world
L4s@lemmy.world
L3s@hackingne.ws
77
How hard is it to build orbital data centers, actually? (arstechnica.com)
submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) by nullify3112@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world
42 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Editor’s note: … In this article, we discuss the technical challenges of building an orbital data center constellation: launching all of it, dissipating heat in space, dealing with radiation, and addressing latency issues in orbit. Read part one here.

I find the napkin math interesting, especially putting into light that given expected longevity of such satellites, 5 to 7 years, they will have to do 10 to 42 launches per day. SpaceX will need $1.5 to $10 trillions to make it happen. All of that so the slop machine doesn’t have to run into obstacles like democracy ? So it can destroy communities and the environment freely? What are we doing?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] Mirshe@lemmy.world 2 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

Not to mention the payload reqs on this. All the radiation shielding and heat management is gonna need a new Sea Dragon-sized rocket.

[–] TIEPilot@lemmy.world 1 points 13 hours ago

Great point, also think about the cost in fuel to keep it in LEO orbit. Then what happens when they lose control of it? Space Lab Part 2