My takeaway is that it isn’t unfeasible. We already have satellites that do a couple kilowatts, so a cluster of them might make sense. In isolation, it makes sense.
But there is launch cost, and the fact that de-orbiting/de-commissioning is a write-off, and the fact that preferred orbits (lots of sun) will very quickly become unavailable.
So there is kinda a graph where you get the preferred orbit, your efficiency is good enough, your launch costs are low enough.
But it’s junk.
It’s literally investing in junk.
There is no way this is a legitimate investment.
It has a finite life, regardless of how you stretch your tech. At some point, it can’t stay in orbit.
It’s AI. There is no way humans are in a position to lock in 4 years of hardware.
It’s satellites. There are so many factors outside of our control that (beyond launch orbit success), that there is a massive failure rate.
It’s rockets. They are controlled explosives with 1 shot to get it right. Again, massive failure rate.
It just doesn’t make sense.
It’s feasible. I’m sure humanity would learn a lot. AI is not a good use of kilowatts of power in space. AI is not a good use of the finite resource of earth to launch satellites (never mind a million?!). AI is not a good reason to pullute the “good” bits of LEO
Not to mention all that stuff left in space can’t just be brought down safely to reuse/recycle like other materials. So it’s a permanent loss of resources.
And not just the resources, those orbits are going to be cluttered with slowly-deorbiting junk too. Until we get around to making something that can clean them up, we won’t be able to put anything else there.
Scott Manley has a video on this:
https://youtu.be/DCto6UkBJoI
My takeaway is that it isn’t unfeasible. We already have satellites that do a couple kilowatts, so a cluster of them might make sense. In isolation, it makes sense.
But there is launch cost, and the fact that de-orbiting/de-commissioning is a write-off, and the fact that preferred orbits (lots of sun) will very quickly become unavailable.
So there is kinda a graph where you get the preferred orbit, your efficiency is good enough, your launch costs are low enough.
But it’s junk.
It’s literally investing in junk.
There is no way this is a legitimate investment.
It has a finite life, regardless of how you stretch your tech. At some point, it can’t stay in orbit.
It’s AI. There is no way humans are in a position to lock in 4 years of hardware.
It’s satellites. There are so many factors outside of our control that (beyond launch orbit success), that there is a massive failure rate.
It’s rockets. They are controlled explosives with 1 shot to get it right. Again, massive failure rate.
It just doesn’t make sense.
It’s feasible. I’m sure humanity would learn a lot. AI is not a good use of kilowatts of power in space. AI is not a good use of the finite resource of earth to launch satellites (never mind a million?!). AI is not a good reason to pullute the “good” bits of LEO
Not to mention all that stuff left in space can’t just be brought down safely to reuse/recycle like other materials. So it’s a permanent loss of resources.
And not just the resources, those orbits are going to be cluttered with slowly-deorbiting junk too. Until we get around to making something that can clean them up, we won’t be able to put anything else there.