Thread

Google’s Project Suncatcher to put ML infrastructure in space

233 points · 553 comments · xnx

fwlr · 1790297624 · focus · HN ↗
Yes, the physics are worse, and yes, the economics are worse, but data centers in space have the crucial advantage that they are out of range of the molotov-throwing arm of Joe Public (recently unemployed).
1. thelastgallon · 1790304034 · focus · HN ↗
  Businesses run anywhere real money can be made. Middle east is the most volatile place. Yet, the businesses are perfectly okay building infrastructure to extract, refine and ship oil from there.
  If real money can be made, there is no need of datacenters in space. Offer some country some money and they'll let you build whatever you want. The whole idea is entirely unprofitable thats why they are making up things that won't work economically. Keep giving us money indefinitely, we'll keep spending, money can be made after a few decades of spending ... trust us.
  1. throwaway473825 · 1790304698 · focus · HN ↗
    Note that you didn't mention any such country, and for good reason - there is none.
    You'd need a dictatorship where people's voices don't matter, but then there's no right of ownership either.
    thelastgallon · 1790307189 · focus · HN ↗
    > You'd need a dictatorship where people's voices don't matter, but then there's no right of ownership either.
    And there are plenty of those countries. As well as countries that aren't dictatorships. Every leader everywhere is available for sale. In democracies, usually for a small sum. Dictatorships ask for a percentage of profit.
    Everyone knows how the current administration got to power: <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2025/02/01/politics/elon-musk-2024-election-spending-millions" rel="nofollow">https://edition.cnn.com/2025/02/01/politics/elon-musk-2024-e...
    Trump will gladly allow datacenters to be built on federal lands. Just like he allows Oil/Coal and bans Wind and Solar. The only reason there is new story of Space Datacenters is because even if they are given everything by the Govt, it simply won't work.
    If you see a datacenter in orbit, it means something went wrong on Earth: <a href="https://systemsthinkingcollection.substack.com/p/space-datacenters" rel="nofollow">https://systemsthinkingcollection.substack.com/p/space-datac...
    People believe all kinds of fiction and garbage, like going to Mars. (Why Terraform Mars When We Can Fix The Earth? <a href="https://www.youtube.com/shorts/8mhib97--n4" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/shorts/8mhib97--n4)
    The same argument holds for AI DCs. If you can build profitable AI datacenters in space, why can't you build profitable AI datacenters on Earth? The only reason is you can't build profitable AI datacenters on earth. Just give us a few more trillions and wait a decade or two, we promise ...
    jazzyjackson · 1790307693 · focus · HN ↗
    This idea that space is a way to get out of the reach of NIMBYs is so dumb.
    a: now you’re in everyone’s back yard, since satellites in orbit can be seen by the naked eye at twilight zipping across the sky, so now the whole earth hates you
    b: you are still launching from earth, which is a pretty significant target if you’re worried about ecoterrorism.
    user43928 · 1790320890 · focus · HN ↗
    Have you considered that the 'NIMBY' problem here might be about permits and local resource usage rather than terrorism, which makes about no sense?
    notahacker · 1790326357 · focus · HN ↗
    Launch requires permits too, you just don't get to jurisdiction shop...
    user43928 · 1790328736 · focus · HN ↗
    When I looked it up earlier, it seemed to me that to scale this up we would require larger rockets than Starship if we cannot launch hundreds of times per day.
    Admittedly I know very little about spaceships

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