Orbital Data Centers a Space Debate

Coming off an Independence Day where we celebrate the past and appreciate our present let’s look forward to the future on what is a lighter holiday week for many.  

The concept of data centers in space has evolved from a flight of fancy a couple of years ago to an important part of the plan for a number of companies, with the idea gaining a lot of attention in association with  the frenzied SpaceX IPO.  Although it has historically been unwise to underestimate Elon Musk's ability to accomplish ambitious technological objectives, legitimate questions remain regarding the feasibility of orbital data centers and the timeframe in which they could become commercially viable and financially practical at scale.

Masayoshi Son, the CEO and founder of SoftBank is the latest skeptic, speaking of the difficulties of maintenance in space while pointing out “electricity cost is only 7% and 93% of the cost is for chips and other things.”   

If that 7%/93% ratio seems low to you keep in mind that it is a blend of the OpEx and CapEx in a state-of-the art AI data center.  AI chips are massively expensive.  The energy cost as a percentage of your existing data center expenses is certainly far higher. 

Data centers in space have a blend of champions and doubters, proving to be a fun story for us to follow.  But it is little more than a concept to consider from afar for most of us, who are just trying to optimize our optime and performance within defined infrastructure budgets. We’ll re-enter the real world atmosphere of Pennsylvania enterprises next week and pivot back to ground-based, terrestrial data center and IT infrastructure issues facing Philadelphia-area executives.