It seems out of a sci-fi film, yet Stephen Eisele firmly believes that his firm will eventually establish a data center on the moon.
"The way we see it is that by putting the data centre in space, you're really offering unparalleled security," says the president of Lonestar Data Holdings.
A few weeks ago, the company based in Florida asserted they had successfully tested A miniature data center as small as a hardcover book traveled to the Moon aboard the Athena Lunar Lander, which was dispatched by the U.S. aerospace company Intuitive Machines. The lander itself was sent into space via a rocket provided by Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
Data centers are massive facilities that contain numerous computer servers responsible for storing and processing information utilized by websites, businesses, and governmental organizations.
Lonestar claims that placing them on the Moon will provide clients with secure and dependable data processing, leveraging abundant solar energy for their power needs.
Moreover, although space-based data centers might seem outlandish, this concept is beginning to gain significant traction.
One factor contributing to this issue is the soaring demand along with the challenge of identifying appropriate locations on our planet.
The rapidly growing application of artificial intelligence (AI) technology has led to an enormous rise in the volume of data requiring storage and processing globally.
Consequently, the requirement for data centers has surged as well, with yearly demand expected to increase. between 19% and 22% By 2030, as predicted by international management consulting firm McKinsey.
New facilities keep cropping up constantly, yet finding locations for them has become increasingly challenging. These data centers are vast and spread out, consuming massive quantities of electricity and water primarily for cooling purposes.
Moreover, locals are becoming less inclined to have these constructions near their homes.
Placing data centers in space—whether in Earth’s orbit or on the Moon—the idea suggests, would mean they could cause significantly less damage. For instance, solar power provides virtually limitless energy, and there are no nearby inhabitants to object to their environmental impact.
In addition, these off-planet data centers might focus specifically on providing services for spacecraft and various space installations, enabling faster data exchanges between vessels compared to those originating from Earth.
Last summer, the findings of a feasibility study funded by the European Commission regarding orbiting data centers were released.
The Ascend report, conducted by Thales Alenia Space — a company formed through a partnership between French firm Thales and Italian group Leonardo — has released its findings.
It was concluded that placing data centers in space would be beneficial. has the potential to reshape Europe’s digital environment, and be "more eco-friendly".
Thales Alenia Space plans to construct a satellite network consisting of 13 units spanning an overall area of 200 meters by 80 meters, equipped with a cumulative data processing capacity of approximately 10 megawatts (MW). This setup would be comparable to a present-day mid-size terrestrial data center hosting about 5,000 servers.
Given the technologies currently available or being developed, the satellites would be constructed while in orbit.
Damien Dumestier, who leads the Ascend project at Thales Alenia Space as an architecture lead, states that for orbital data centers to have a smaller environmental impact compared to terrestrial ones, it would be essential to reduce emissions from rockets throughout their operational life by tenfold. According to him, achieving this reduction appears feasible.
"However, to address the advancements in this new technology and increase production capabilities to leverage economies of scale, we must think about expanding our overall system capacity to approximately 200 MW. This would involve deploying around 200 of our planned major space structures along with conducting roughly 200 launch missions," he explains.
The primary issue at hand is determining when an adjusted launcher will be available. This timeline hinges on the level of investment and choices made, which could result in readiness as early as 2030 or as late as 2035, ensuring commercial feasibility by 2037 at the latest.
Nevertheless, even with this enthusiasm from companies looking to advance the technology, Dr. Domenico Vicinanza, an associate professor specializing in intelligent systems and data science at Anglia Ruskin University in the UK, argues that several significant challenges must be overcome before space-based data centers become a feasible option.
He notes that despite the contributions and progress made by firms such as SpaceX, sending equipment to orbit is still highly costly. The price tag for each kilogram launched into space runs into thousands of dollars.
Data centers located in space would necessitate not just the equipment for storing information but also the facilities to safeguard, supply energy to, and keep them cooled. These additional components increase both the weight and intricacy involved.
Reducing the temperature of the equipment will pose a significant challenge, as despite the fact that outer space is frigid, traditional cooling methods are ineffective without gravitational forces.
In the meantime, space weather has the potential to impair electronic systems, whereas the growing amount of space debris endangers the actual hardware.
Dr. Vicinanza remarks, "Correcting issues in space is not at all simple. Despite the use of robotics and automation, there are boundaries to how much can be fixed from afar."
Major equipment breakdown could require an expensive manual intervention, possibly extending non-operational time into weeks or even months.
Still, companies such as Lonestar remain highly confident and argue that they are addressing customer requests. As Mr. Scott states, “We wouldn’t undertake this if our clients weren’t urging us to.”
The following objective for this entity is to deploy a compact data center into lunar orbit by 2027. In parallel, various firms aim to reach this milestone sooner; for instance, Seattle-area Starcloud plans to send up a satellite-hosted data center later this month with intentions of initiating business activities midway through 2026.
Lonestar's Mr Eidele indicates that space-based facilities provide greater security for both governments and enterprises as they do not require routing data through land-based networks. Rather, this information can be transmitted directly from space to a specific ground station.
“It’s akin to having safety deposit boxes located deep within a bank,” he explains. “You may not need to access them daily, yet they offer an additional layer of protection. Similarly, the gap between the Earth and the Moon makes it significantly more difficult for unauthorized individuals to tamper with or reach these systems.”
The time it takes for information to travel from the Moon to Earth is roughly one and a half seconds; this delay is inconsequential for certain uses such as long-term data storage and backups.
Moreover, according to Chris Stott, the founder and CEO of Lonestar, space-based data centers can assist organizations in complying with rules related to data sovereignty—the requirement to store people’s data within their home country.
He states that according to space legislation, this set of electronic equipment falls under the jurisdiction of the country that issued the license or launched it, as it essentially functions as an embassy in outer space.
Lonestar already has potential clients queued up, which include the state of Florida and the Isle of Man government.
- The environmental activists combating the construction of data centers
- Data center energy consumption predicted to increase sixfold within a decade.
- Worries about UK's goals in artificial intelligence might result in water scarcity issues.
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