https://x.com/ChrisJBakke/status/2085519392285380966
That's 15 Pentagons.
I wouldn't be surprised if it's another Musk pump-and-dump scheme for SpaceX. We'll be seeing more of these every quarter now.
Posted 3 months ago as well, might not be new
To achieve a Type II civilization, is a Dyson Swarm currently the best theoretical approach or are there others that are more promising?
Dyson Spheres are supposed to be built around a star, not around a planet!
Not something to be proud of...
Power build
Permitting
Operating costs
Land
Energy costs
Infrastructure
Cooling
Launch cost
Operating costs
Satellite build
Infrastructure
Why does everyone seem to think it's super difficult? It's really easy to keep things cool in space. Radiant cooling is very effective when the background energy is 3° K. The radiators don't even need to be as large as the solar panels picking up energy.
The most difficult challenge for satellite temperature regulation is the sudden changes in solar heating when passing in and out of Earth's shadow, but these satellites would be in an orbit that doesn't cross behind earth's shadow, making thermal regulation simpler than most low- and medium-Earth-orbit satellites.
It's not like it's easy on earth. Servers on earth almost always require a heat pump between the computer and outside, whether directly cooling the computer or cooling the air in a room the computer is running in. Almost all of the cooling comes through convective action, which requires significant air or water movement, or if that isn't enough evaporating water may be needed.
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.
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.