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Hello, and welcome to this week’s edition of The View from Space.
🤖 The companies frantically building and leasing data centres are well aware that they’re straining grids, driving emissions, and guzzling water, reports WIRED. Some of the biggest names in artificial intelligence say they have a solution: Just stick these colossal computer clusters in space:
‘OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told manosphere podcaster Theo Von that he considers a massive expansion of data centers inevitable …
“Maybe we put [data centres] in space,” he said. “I wish I had, like, more concrete answers for you, but like, we’re stumbling through this.”
Now, the idea of hurling data centers, the largest of which can cover over a million square feet, into orbit may seem impractical. But Altman’s not alone in considering it. Jeff Bezos and Eric Schmidt are also betting on the idea.
Altman has proposed creating a Dyson sphere of data centers around the sun, referring to a hypothetical megastructure built around a star to capture much of its energy. The rather glaring downside to this is that building it would likely require more resources than exist on Earth, and could make the planet uninhabitable. But somewhat more realistic plans are inching closer to reality. Startups like Starcloud, Axiom, and Lonestar Data Systems have raised millions to develop them.
There are at least 5,400 data centers in the United States, ranging from micro-size to thousand-server “hyperscalers,” and the number is growing fast. These facilities are expected to consume up to 12 percent of the nation’s electricity by 2028. Putting them in space, then, can seem like a panacea: solving the energy-use problem with 24/7 solar power, and freeing communities from the burden of air, noise, and water pollution.
There’s some real science behind this. Ali Hajimiri, an electrical engineer and professor with Caltech’s Space Solar Power Project, sought a patent for a “massively parallel computational system in space”—as in, a data center—back in 2016.’
🇪🇺 Dr Robert Brüll of FibreCoat writes in EurActiv that it is not enough for European NATO members to chuck money at defence. Unless they can overcome fragmentation, the money will be misspent, and we will not have a combat-ready continent ‘able to defend the values it has done so well to incubate’:
‘National industry champions still dominate, countries still insist on building their own systems, and procurement is often local, rather than European. The result is waste, delays, missed opportunities, and high costs, none of which Europe can afford.
Look at the numbers. Europe operates 12 different main battle tanks, as well as many different types of fighter jets, and missile and artillery systems. Many have their own supply chain, spare parts, training needs, and logistics. Compare this with China, which has a far more unified arsenal. The US spends more, it’s true; but it spends effectively. Economies of scale mean quicker production and lower costs.’
Fragmented procurement introduces risk: incompatible ammunition, different spare parts, and separate maintenance. In a crisis, this slows everything to a crawl. A multinational NATO force will struggle to share supplies if its weapons do not match.
This can all be fixed. The mystery is why, for the most part, it isn’t being addressed. ’
🤝🏻 In Reuters, Joey Roulette and Cassell Bryan-Low report that France and the United States are planning a second joint mission of coordinated satellite manoeuvres in orbit to counter China:
Space is an increasingly contested military domain, as a soaring number of satellites crucial for communications, missile warning and battlefield intelligence face threats from the world’s top space powers. China, Russia and the U.S. have demonstrated anti-satellite weapons and launched maneuverable spacecraft, raising worries that an attack during conflict could disrupt GPS navigation or sever channels of communication relied upon by forces on Earth.
Maneuvering spacecraft with sharper precision and marshalling international alliances have become key fronts in what officials regard as a new global space race, with the U.S. and its allies facing intense rivalry from China and Russia.
“We are planning an effort with France right now,” Lieutenant General Douglas Schiess, commander of a U.S. Space Force component that works with Space Command to conduct secretive military space operations, told Reuters in an interview. He did not elaborate.
France is Europe’s largest government spender on space. Further operations with other nations could follow, he said, adding, “I can see us doing more.”
🛰️ The UK Space Agency has announced 23 new projects that will boost international space partnerships and innovation. Here is Innovation News Network:
‘This is the second round of projects from the successful International Bilateral Fund (IBF), representing a £6.5m boost for UK companies and universities collaborating internationally on space innovation with partners in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, India, Japan, Lithuania, and the USA.
These innovations include autonomous 3D printing, lunar agriculture, orbital threat detection, biotech manufacturing, medical research and deep space radar. The collaborations also span life sciences, communications, in-orbit servicing, Earth observation and advanced materials.
They showcase the breadth of expertise across the UK’s vibrant space sector, which employs more than 55,000 people and generates £18.6bn in annual revenue.’
🪖 China is catching up with the United States in space at an ‘incredible pace’, says a top Space Force General. The Chinese are building a ‘kill chain’ for targeting U.S. forces, reports Defence News:
‘“They are bringing on capability, I won’t say daily, but at least monthly, that puts our assets at risk,” Lt. Gen. Douglas Schiess, the commander of U.S. Space Forces-Space, told reporters at the annual Air & Space Forces Association conference in National Harbor, Maryland, on Wednesday.
“China is definitely our biggest threat,” he said.
According to Schiess, the Chinese are building a “kill chain,” or attack process, for targeting U.S. maritime, land and air forces “at greater distances than we’ve ever seen.”
“They’re using space to be able to make those distances even greater,” Schiess explained. “On top of that, they are adding counter-space capabilities that then put our assets at risk.”’
🇷🇺 German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius has warned against the growing Russian threat in space, reports Space News, as Germany commits €35 billion to the development of space capabilities:
‘Boris Pistorius cited concerns over two Luch/Olymp satellites near Intelsat satellites used by German armed forces and others. He told a Berlin space conference: “Russia and China have expanded their capabilities for warfare in space rapidly over the past years.
“They can disrupt satellite operations, blind satellites, manipulate or kinetically destroy them.” He said Germany’s military had already been targeted by jamming attacks.
The two Russian satellites in question - launched in 2014 and 2023 - have long been accused of “loitering” and “eavesdropping” on others by stopping nearby.
French space start-up Aldoria said it observed one Russian satellite performing a “sudden close approach” to another one in May 2024.
The year before, US firm Slingshot Aerospace reported “unfriendly” behaviour - with one of the satellites showing a pattern in which it was stopping near non-Russian satellites.’
☀️ NASA has released time lapse of the sun, captured by its Solar Dynamics Observatory over 10 years: