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Their 2020 patent on a satellite chassis optimized for heat dissipation: https://x.com/seti_park/status/2015114363531866448 https://x.com/seti_park/status/2015
by delichon 9mo ago
Their 2020 patent on a satellite chassis optimized for heat dissipation:
https://x.com/seti_park/status/2015114363531866448 https://x.com/seti_park/status/2015114363531866448
They claim 12.6 watts/kg. A fully reusable Starship is expected to orbit 100 to 150 tons of cargo, so ~1 to 2 megawatts of compute per launch.
A 1MW datacenter in the US would cost around $10M to build, and consume around $100k/month in electricity, free to the satellite.
A Starship launch is projected to cost around $10M, which doesn't include the satellites. So it looks more expensive than a conventional data center even with optimistic assumptions. It may depend on those becoming more expensive to be practical.
- CamperBob2 9mo agoWhy not just run the terrestrial data center from PV panels? That's free, too.
- delichon 9mo agoMostly intermittency. In space it can be 24/7.
- CamperBob2 9mo agoGotta believe that PV+battery storage is cheaper than PV in space, on a watt-for-watt basis.
- delichon 9mo agoBattery backup for 24/7 operation would roughly double the CapEx for power. Maybe that's still cheaper than space? Land scarcity alone, not to mention social resistance or ecological costs, will tend to favor scaling in space for the longer term.
- CamperBob2 9mo agoBattery backup for 24/7 operation would roughly double the CapEx for power. Maybe that's still cheaper than space? I feel like I'm taking crazy pills.
- trhway 9mo agoMy previous napkin https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43190778 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43190778