Sure but like, just use even more solar panels? You can probably buy a lot of them for the cost of a satellite.

▲ rcxdude 5 hours ago | parent | next [-]

The cost of putting them up there is a lot more than the cost of the cells

▲ schiffern 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

  >just use even more solar panels

I think it's because at this scale a significant limit becomes the global production capacity for solar cells, and SpaceX is in the business of cheaper satellites and launch.

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skywhopper 5 hours ago | parent [-]

“This scale” is not realistic in terms of demand or even capability. We may as well talk about mining Sagittarius A* for neutrons.

	▲	schiffern 4 hours ago \| parent [-]
		You don't even need a particularly large scale, it's efficient resource utilization. Humanity has a finite (and too small) capacity for building solar panels. AI requires lots of power already. So the question is, do you want AI to consume X (where X is a pretty big chunk of the pie), or five times X, from that total supply? Using less PV is great, but only if the total cost ends up cheaper than installing 5X the capacity as terrestrial PV farms, along with daily smoothing batteries. SpaceX is only skating to where they predict the cost puck will be.

▲ 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

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