Data centers are emerging as a new environmental flashpoint for the tech industry. Public concern is growing over their hunger for power and thirst for water. What’s the tech industry’s reaction to the problem? Put the data centers in space.
Space is a great place for data centers because it solves one of the biggest problems with locating data centers on Earth: power, argues Google’s Senior Director of Paradigms of Intelligence, Travis Beals.
“The Sun is the ultimate energy source in our solar system, emitting more power than 100 trillion times humanity’s total electricity production,” he explained in a company blog. “In the right orbit, a solar panel can be up to eight times more productive than on Earth, and produce power nearly continuously, reducing the need for batteries.”
“In the future, space may be the best place to scale AI compute,” he asserted. “Working backwards from there, our new research moonshot, Project Suncatcher, envisions compact constellations of solar-powered satellites, carrying Google TPUs [Tensor Processing Units] and connected by free-space optical links. This approach would have tremendous potential for scale and also minimizes impact on terrestrial resources.”
