Starlink · SpaceX · Elon Musk · Ars Technica
The company’s founder, Elon Musk, flagged gears up for this large constellation months ago, but until recently
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The video finally provided the company’s numbers about the satellite’s size and power capabilities.
Key facts
- Instead, it envisions launching and maintaining a constellation of 1 million satellites capable of generating 120 GW to power tens of millions—and potentially up to 100 million—frontier-class GPUs
- As Ars wrote in part 1 of this series, the physics of orbital data centers are indeed non-magical
- The company’s founder, Elon Musk, revealed plans for this massive constellation months ago, but until recently, the scope of the individual satellites was largely unknown
- Iridium Communications chief executive Matt Desch, a long-time, level-headed satellite industry executive, was asked during an earnings call earlier this year what he thought about the concept
Summary
In this article, they 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. SpaceX has pinned the bulk of its future value on orbital data centers. Instead, it envisions launching and maintaining a constellation of 1 million satellites capable of generating 120 GW to power tens of millions—and potentially up to 100 million—frontier-class GPUs for data center services. The company’s founder, Elon Musk, revealed plans for this massive constellation months ago, but until recently, the scope of the individual satellites was largely unknown. “There’s not some magic that’s necessary that doesn’t exist,” Musk said during the video, reflecting on the challenge of building AI1 satellites.