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Whatever happened to Musk's plan for data centers in orbit? That seemed silly at the time. It offers a way to get out from under restrictions imposed by nationa

Whatever happened to Musk's plan for data centers in orbit? That seemed silly at the time. It offers a way to get out from under restrictions imposed by national governments, which might make it worthwhile.

Waterluvian 4d ago
I think space being imagined as some magical international waters that protects something from government powers is poisonous thinking. It just means it’s protected by no power instead of a power with an agenda. Practically, if it was ever possible to build such a thing, it would take a fraction of the effort to destroy it.
- jandrese 4d ago
  I mean for that matter why not float barges in the South Pacific for data centers? Sure it’s a dumb idea, but it’s still less problematic than launching thousands of GPUs on rockets.
joegibbs 4d ago
It only gets out of the restrictions as long as the nations say it does - if the US decides to ban Musk from putting up satellites it can put him in jail, blow up his satellites or even have him killed
kadoban 4d ago
> That seemed silly at the time. Still does. It's an idiotic idea that only goes to show either how stupid Musk is or how stupid he thinks we are.
yoyohello13 4d ago
> Whatever happened to Musk's plan for data centers in orbit? The technology to do it is not actually real yet. He was just blowing smoke.
vrganj 4d ago
A data center in space still has to get its data up and down from earth somehow. That part will still be subject to government control, so I don't think this would get him anything.
- tancop 3d ago
  Receiving signals is impossible to control. That is why every spy agency set up number stations in the Cold War. All you need is a radio hooked up to a computer and it gives off zero signal of its own so no one can trace it. Sending is a bit more problematic but you can build a ground station anywhere in the satellites coverage area, so if you get shut down in one place you can move to the next where officials are easier to bribe. The real problems are transfer speed, reliability (both transfer and compute) and cooling. All of them are much harder than avoiding governments.

Waterluvian 4d ago

I think space being imagined as some magical international waters that protects something from government powers is poisonous thinking. It just means it’s protected by no power instead of a power with an agenda. Practically, if it was ever possible to build such a thing, it would take a fraction of the effort to destroy it.

jandrese 4d ago
I mean for that matter why not float barges in the South Pacific for data centers? Sure it’s a dumb idea, but it’s still less problematic than launching thousands of GPUs on rockets.

joegibbs 4d ago

It only gets out of the restrictions as long as the nations say it does - if the US decides to ban Musk from putting up satellites it can put him in jail, blow up his satellites or even have him killed

kadoban 4d ago

> That seemed silly at the time. Still does. It's an idiotic idea that only goes to show either how stupid Musk is or how stupid he thinks we are.

yoyohello13 4d ago

> Whatever happened to Musk's plan for data centers in orbit? The technology to do it is not actually real yet. He was just blowing smoke.

vrganj 4d ago

A data center in space still has to get its data up and down from earth somehow. That part will still be subject to government control, so I don't think this would get him anything.

tancop 3d ago
Receiving signals is impossible to control. That is why every spy agency set up number stations in the Cold War. All you need is a radio hooked up to a computer and it gives off zero signal of its own so no one can trace it. Sending is a bit more problematic but you can build a ground station anywhere in the satellites coverage area, so if you get shut down in one place you can move to the next where officials are easier to bribe. The real problems are transfer speed, reliability (both transfer and compute) and cooling. All of them are much harder than avoiding governments.