This analysis calculates 80 square meters of radiator surface area needed per rack, or 200,000 square meters per 100 MW.
It's not to say it can't be done, I think orbital data centers could actually be a pretty good idea, but to say cooling is a nonissue is disingenuous. Innovations are needed there to make it work.
Again, that's less than the surface area needed for the solar panels, and the body of the satellite itself is included in that.
As far as satellite design goes, the thermal design is easier than radiation hardening or vibration resistance, and unlike something running on earth, there's no ongoing costs associated with it. As far as things to worry about when designing a satellite, it's as much of an issue as making sure the power supplies are the right voltage and the radio is running on the right frequency, which is to say you check to make sure you got it right, but otherwise it's a non issue.
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https://spectrum.ieee.org/orbital-data-centers-heat
This analysis calculates 80 square meters of radiator surface area needed per rack, or 200,000 square meters per 100 MW.
It's not to say it can't be done, I think orbital data centers could actually be a pretty good idea, but to say cooling is a nonissue is disingenuous. Innovations are needed there to make it work.
Again, that's less than the surface area needed for the solar panels, and the body of the satellite itself is included in that.
As far as satellite design goes, the thermal design is easier than radiation hardening or vibration resistance, and unlike something running on earth, there's no ongoing costs associated with it. As far as things to worry about when designing a satellite, it's as much of an issue as making sure the power supplies are the right voltage and the radio is running on the right frequency, which is to say you check to make sure you got it right, but otherwise it's a non issue.