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[return to "Data centers in space makes no sense"]
1. sheeps+Yu[view] [source] 2026-02-03 22:08:48
>>ajyoon+(OP)
What’s there not to like? Superconductors. Free electricity. No cooling necessary.

Put those three together and maybe it’s possible to push physics to its limits. Faster networking, maybe 4x-5x capacity per unit compared to earth. Servicing is a pain, might be cheaper to just replace the hardware when a node goes bad.

But it mainly makes sense to those who have the capability and can do it cheaply (compared to the rest). There’s only one company that I can think of and that is SpaceX. They are closing in on (or passed) 8,000 satellites. Vertical integration means their cost-base will always be less than any competitor.

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2. pgalvi+Bv[view] [source] 2026-02-03 22:11:46
>>sheeps+Yu
Do you mean to suggest that computer hardware does not need to be cooled when it is in space? Or that it is trivial and easier to do this in space compared to on Earth? I don’t understand either claim, if so.
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3. sfink+FP[view] [source] 2026-02-04 00:01:15
>>pgalvi+Bv
The computer hardware only needs to run enough AI compute to be smart enough to convince Musk that it's working. It should be fine.
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