From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Authentication-Results: mail.toke.dk; spf=pass smtp.mailfrom=lang.hm; dkim=fail; arc=none (Message is not ARC signed); dmarc=none Received: from mail.lang.hm (wsip-70-167-213-146.ph.ph.cox.net [70.167.213.146]) by mail.toke.dk (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 3F77BD8C54B for ; Fri, 27 Feb 2026 16:07:50 +0100 (CET) Received: from [10.2.2.53] (unknown [10.2.2.53]) by mail.lang.hm (Postfix) with ESMTP id 1095E21C902; Fri, 27 Feb 2026 07:07:49 -0800 (PST) Date: Fri, 27 Feb 2026 08:07:43 -0700 (MST) From: David Lang To: sascha@thexlab.org cc: starlink@lists.bufferbloat.net In-Reply-To: <3e2d9c26-f468-4380-8c88-a76679248a16@thexlab.org> Message-ID: References: <4f2228ec-042a-48ed-8946-a6c37f10ca94@rogers.com> <2o0r5r7s-0750-o2p1-7738-n4n88q9093qs@ynat.uz> <69q3s580-8560-q213-2n61-o36qns8o6q4o@ynat.uz> <22f8dfbf-c99d-4d9e-9962-e37851ee1d17@auckland.ac.nz> <53546r56-154r-o38n-1ns2-8ponps4ss1o5@ynat.uz> <3e2d9c26-f468-4380-8c88-a76679248a16@thexlab.org> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed Message-ID-Hash: PUN7J63ZDK5NYEN5I6QC3PKTU2DGGYOI X-Message-ID-Hash: PUN7J63ZDK5NYEN5I6QC3PKTU2DGGYOI X-MailFrom: david@lang.hm X-Mailman-Rule-Misses: dmarc-mitigation; no-senders; approved; loop; banned-address; emergency; member-moderation; nonmember-moderation; administrivia; implicit-dest; max-recipients; max-size; news-moderation; no-subject; digests; suspicious-header X-Mailman-Version: 3.3.10 Precedence: list Subject: [Starlink] Re: Why Data Centers In Space Won't Work [Yet] (A non-canonical list). List-Id: "Starlink has bufferbloat. Bad." Archived-At: List-Archive: List-Help: List-Owner: List-Post: List-Subscribe: List-Unsubscribe: one big satellite vs lots of small satellites (not a large coherent cluster like is currently used for training) David Lang On Fri, 27 Feb 2026, Sascha Meinrath via Starlink wrote: > Date: Fri, 27 Feb 2026 09:26:52 -0500 > From: Sascha Meinrath via Starlink > Reply-To: sascha@thexlab.org > Cc: starlink@lists.bufferbloat.net > Subject: [Starlink] Why Data Centers In Space Won't Work [Yet] (A > non-canonical list). > > Hi everyone, > > Synthesizing from what we know thus far, I think it would be helpful to have > a topline bullet list of the major issues detrimentally impacting the > viability of data centers in space. > > I remain highly skeptical of the concept, given today's technological > realities, and feel that there would be utility in having a quick reference > of the major shortcomings that need to be overcome. > > Here's a starting point for some of the major limitations to data centers in > space (please add, though keep bullets pithy): > > 1. Thermal cooling/heat dissipation > 2. Radiation hardening > 3. Launch costs > 4. Upgrade/maintenance costs > 5. Kessler syndrome/ablation cascade risks (& collision avoidance) > 6. Power generation/storage > 7. Latency/bandwidth > 8. Risk-adjusted ROI > 9. ??? > . > . > . > > --Sascha > >