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Google's first Suncatcher orbital data center test launches October 1

52 points · 96 comments · sbulaev

eximius · 1790367708 · focus · HN ↗
The reasons against doing this is obvious. Is there any coherent description of why someone would think it is a good idea? And I don't mean, like, delusional reasons, but an actually rational argument for "here is where it might work out and we need to try and measure to find out".
1. sdcfgy · 1790368097 · focus · HN ↗
  It’s a completely fucking stupid idea in all ways if you throw any engineering rationale at it at all.
  Negative on: Risk, cost, thermals, radiation, maintenance, latency, complexity, environmental.
  The only win they have is making more outlandish shit to inflate value until it goes snap. One trick pony.
  1. risyachka · 1790368403 · focus · HN ↗
    It needs a single use case to justify its existence. And I am pretty sure it has one. The question is will google reveal it? Probably not.
    Even as some sort of failsafe compute for when some meteor hits the earth - already enough for a government to pay 10000x premium for it and it will bring in cash.
    Obviously this is not intended to play in the same league as common enterprise datacenter.
    sdcfgy · 1790368661 · focus · HN ↗
    That’s even more crazy.
    No one is going to give a shit about compute if an asteroid hits us. If we survive it, it’ll turn into a resource war within weeks. We’ll be back to the Stone Age.
    The only feasible thing I can see is jurisdiction related and that’s not something we should be encouraging. I mean we’ll just end up jamming data centres from the ground.
    scottyah · 1790370392 · focus · HN ↗
    Is your mental model of the world made entirely from low budget Hollywood movies?
    [deleted] · 1790371641 · focus · HN ↗
    [deleted]

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