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Space data centers can cool by radiation, with Starship launch cost the main limit

1 article1 sourcesince Nov 3Last article 2h ago ·

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indigo, an X user, argues that space data centers can dispose of their heat by thermal radiation alone, citing the Stefan-Boltzmann law.

Elon Musk says an aluminum radiator facing deep space can radiate about 1300 W/m², while solar panels produce about 250 W/m² and would need roughly five times the radiator's area. indigo says the binding constraint is Starship's ability to launch large structures cheaply, not the physics of heat dissipation. The report gives no independent calculation of these figures.

Written by AI from the articles below · updated Nov 3, 10:33 PM ET

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Latest developmentNov 3, 10:27 PM ET
Space data centers can cool by radiating heat, with Starship as the bottleneck

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Nov 3
  1. indigoX
    Space data centers can cool by radiating heat, with Starship as the bottleneck

    AIindigo argues that heat radiation alone can cool space data centers, citing the Stefan-Boltzmann law. Elon Musk says an aluminum radiator facing deep space can reach about 1300 W/m², with solar panels producing about 250 W/m² and needing roughly five times the radiator's area. indigo says the main constraint is Starship's ability to launch large structures cheaply, not the physics of heat dissipation.

    Image from @indigox's post

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