I think that's looking at it the wrong way. Just view it as a fleet of satellites with computers in them that exist for the purpose of selling capacity. I don't see any issues with the physical fundamentals but the economics in terms of dollars either per flop or per bit transferred is where I don't understand how it's supposed to work.

Satellites are really expensive and electricity on the surface is relatively cheap. What hypothetical prospective customers are willing to pay the necessary rates? I understand that bandwidth back to the surface is expensive but are we really expecting so much raw data to be trapped in space that it justifies sending computers into orbit in order to crunch it at the source?

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queenkjuul an hour ago | parent [-]

The physical fundamentals don't work. Radiating exhaust heat is exponentially harder in space than in the atmosphere.

	▲	fc417fc802 an hour ago \| parent [-]
		What is the equilibrium temperature of a panel of black sheet metal hanging out at an orbit of 1 AU? Because if the thing is solar powered then it cannot exceed that temperature on average (ie across the entire mass) due to energy being conserved. You can do goofy things like using solar power coupled with a heating element (such as a GPU) to shift more heat to one part of the panel or another (ie employ an insufficient heat spreader design) but you fundamentally cannot exceed the equilibrium temperature on average.