Thread

Google’s Project Suncatcher to put ML infrastructure in space

233 points · 553 comments · xnx

kin · 1790291957 · focus · HN ↗
For those questioning viability, there's a startup called Starcloud <a href="https://www.starcloud.com/">https://www.starcloud.com/ with a public whitepaper explaining a bit their hardware and economics <a href="https://www.starcloud.com/wp">https://www.starcloud.com/wp. They've already had one small proof of concept launched. Not trying to promote, I just heard about them on the ycomb podcast
1. stingrae · 1790292853 · focus · HN ↗
  “A 5 GW data center would require a solar array with dimensions of approximately 4 km by 4 km”
  I think dodging debris is challenging at that scale.
  Also this is the solar cells not the radiators
  1. FuckButtons · 1790294607 · focus · HN ↗
    Presumably that’s not a single satellite.
    yencabulator · 1790353380 · focus · HN ↗
    There's an artist's impression of the frigging thing in the whitepaper! It's very obviously a single enormous thing!
    > Figure 3. A data center in Sun Synchronous Orbit, showing a 4km x 4km deployed solar array and radiators.

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