Space data centers: SpaceX and Blue Origin race to orbit as scientists question physics

Space data centers: SpaceX and Blue Origin race to orbit as scientists question physics

The scale is attractive in its simplicity: AI needs more power than the world’s internet can provide, so it moves data centers into orbit, where the sun never sets and electricity is free. SpaceX, Blue Origin, and a growing constellation of startups are now racing to make that vision a reality. The problem, according to … Read more

The next big technology step is to put data centers in place. Can it work?

This collage shows photos of Elon Musk's SpaceX Starship in flight, a data center in California and the International Space Station above Earth. Many photographs are shaped like parallelograms or trapezoids.

AFP via Getty Images and NASA/Collage by Emily Bogle/NPR Standing in front of a friendly crowd in March, Elon Musk laid out his plan for the future of his companies, and it was really out of this world. Musk announced that his space development company, SpaceX, which had recently merged with his artificial intelligence company, … Read more