SpaceX’s orbital data centers would create a new category of e-waste

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What’s mined is yours

The yeetcycling math resembles asteroid mining in reverse.

Aurich Lawson | Getty Images

Elon Musk’s talk about maintaining a million-strong AI data center satellite megaconstellation may not exactly be practical or economical, but it might be unique. It’s about the closest we’ve come to confronting a scheme that would export a considerable amount of valuable materials into space. Humans aren’t doing a great job of material sustainability, but normally we’re talking about stuff escaping a recycling pipeline rather than escaping Earth’s gravitational pull.