Orbital data centres are computers on satellites that process data in space using solar power. Prototypes are flying: China's Three-Body constellation (May 202…
HPE's Spaceborne Computer, built from off-the-shelf parts, ran on the ISS for over a year.
China's Three-Body Computing Constellation: 12 satellites, about 5 POPS, laser links up to 100 Gbps.
A prototype computing unit running Red Hat Device Edge, for cloud, AI and cybersecurity tests.
A 60 kg satellite with an NVIDIA H100. In December it trained NanoGPT and ran Google's Gemma.
Solar-powered satellites with Google TPUs, linked by lasers. Needs launch below about $200/kg.
Two orbital data-centre nodes on Kepler's laser relay network, with 2.5 Gbps links.
FCC permission for up to one million data-centre satellites. Then it acquired xAI.
Benefits for power, land and water, but big problems: cooling, radiation, cost and debris.
Not yet. BCG: ~$660-750m per MW in orbit vs ~$230-300m on the ground, over 20 years.
Yes. Google's first prototype, built with Planet, launched on Transporter-18 and is working.
Starcloud-2, more Suncatcher satellites and bigger constellations must solve heat, radiation and cost.
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