Elon Musk's SpaceX applies to launch 1m satellites into orbit (www.bbc.com)

submitted 2 days ago by floofloof@lemmy.ca to c/worldnews@lemmy.ml

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cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/54502961

Elon Musk's SpaceX has applied to launch one million satellites into Earth's orbit to power artificial intelligence (AI).

The application claims "orbital data centres" are the most cost and energy-efficient way to meet the growing demand for AI computing power.

Traditionally, such centres are large warehouses full of powerful computers that process and store data. Musk's aerospace firm claims processing needs due to the expanding use of AI are already outpacing "terrestrial capabilities".

It would increase the number of SpaceX satellites in orbit drastically. Its existing Starlink network of nearly 10,000 satellites has already been accused of creating congestion in space, which Musk denies.

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[-] ramielrowe@lemmy.world 18 points 2 days ago

This is such a dumb concept and likely exists entirely to wow investors. A single AI server with 8 GPUs produces something like 7000 watts of heat, if not more. And likewise, will require at least that much power. Sure, solar is "free" once you've got the panels in space. The real killer though is dissipating all that heat. Obviously, there's no atmosphere in space to transfer heat to. Your only option is purely IR radiation which is significantly less efficient. To put this in context, the ISS's heat dissipation system can dissipate about 14,000 watts. Ignoring all of the other infra that goes into a data-center, that would be two servers. You add all this up, the mass of the supporting infrastructure would far out-weigh the actual servers. And the economies of satellites and rocket launches comes down to mass.