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Google’s Project Suncatcher to put ML infrastructure in space

233 points · 553 comments · xnx

sanj · 1790282348 · focus · HN ↗
Does anyone understand the math behind this bit?
> In the right orbit, a solar panel can be up to 8 times more productive than on earth....
1. gwbas1c · 1790282646 · focus · HN ↗
  Because the panel is positioned such that it's is always exposed to the sun.
  1: There is no night or day.
  2: There are no seasons.
  3: There is no weather.
  Basically, the primary motivating factor of putting AI in space is abundant solar energy. Otherwise, AI in space makes little to no economic sense.
  1. 7e · 1790286213 · focus · HN ↗
    To give a datacenter in space constant exposure to sunlight, the orbit must be either very var away, or occasionally be on the other side of the earth from you. Either way, the latency is terrible. You can put them in a ring and only choose the one closest to you, but are you really going to keep moving your data from satellite to satellite? So, bad for interactive use, maybe OK for non-interactive use, if you can afford the 30 foot by 30 foot solar panel and a similar size radiator for an 8x B300. That will be about $15M for your $500K GPU set. Plus $7M for the launch at SpaceX public rates.
    [deleted] · 1790293264 · focus · HN ↗
    [deleted]

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