Data centers are notorious for their massive water and energy use. That’s partly why the Tucson City Council voted against moving ahead with the mammoth Project Blue data center.
But there’s an ever-growing demand for data and computing power, especially with the rise of AI. So, how can data centers’ environmental effects square with the burgeoning demand for data and computing power?
Researchers worldwide say the answer lies in building data centers in space. Arizona Luminaria spoke with University of Arizona professor Krishna Muralidharan who heads up a university initiative called AZSCI (pronounced “A-Z Sky”).
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Q. What do data centers do, and why are they important?
A. Data centers are all about data, as the name suggests. It’s about computing. It’s about data storage, data curation, and data distribution or delivery. So, why is that important? Because we live in the digital age. Everything’s driven by data, and now everything’s driven by AI. These (Earth-based) data centers are called hyperscale data centers. As the name suggests, they’re huge.
Q. What physical components make up a data center?
A. You can think of the building blocks as computing units, computers, the chips that drive it — and when I say chips, it could be the graphic processing units or the central processing units. You need memory, you need connections, like broadband connections, so that data are processed in the blink of an eye. Because data centers are energy intensive, they also need cooling and a lot of power.
Q. How do the components of a terrestrial data center differ from a space-based one?
A. There’s nothing different. They both have the same building blocks but space-based centers have a lot of advantages and some constraints.
If you can find a geosynchronous orbit, or low-Earth orbit, or middle-Earth orbit where you can optimize sun exposure, all the power required for computing is going to be solar. You’re getting rid of the energy requirements because it’s going to be powered through a renewable source. So, you’ve lessened the energy bottleneck.
If you’re in colder environments, like the confines of space, the cooling requirements are different. You don’t have access to water, but you may not even need water.
Q. How large would a space-based data center be compared with an Earth-based center?
A. Think about a space-based data center as a constellation of satellites and nanosatellites that work in unison. Think of many nanosatellites in space communicating with each other, each behaving as a computing center with its own autonomous computing unit. We call that free-space optics. If you have optics built in, then you’re communicating at the speed of light, so you can have a constellation of nanosatellites and not just one monolithic unit. Because we are communicating at the speed of light, it’s much faster than any other mode of communication. And when needed, it can send back the information to you.
Q. How does information from a space-based data center get back to Earth?
A. All the computing is done in space and as needed. It is beamed back to satellites that then communicate back to you. The architecture of the computing unit is tailored to work in space or optimized to work in space.
Q. How secure are space-based data centers compared with terrestrial data centers?
A. At this point, space-based data would be more secure. In 200 years from now, we don’t know. You can put the data center in middle-Earth orbit or high-Earth orbit where accessibility is limited. Someone cannot physically access it.
Where it’s placed all comes down to how important the data is. If it’s of great national importance, then you make it as secure as possible.
Q. What are some of the challenges that have to be overcome to establish space-based data centers?
A. One of the challenges is space debris. The moment you put the center in space, you need to be very mindful of that. We are working with law professors and public policy professors to navigate this. It really requires everyone to come together as a team to solve this problem.
People from different disciplines are coming together to come up with equitable solutions that make economic sense, too. We just need to be mindful of the possible negative impact these data centers may have in terms of space junk and space debris. But other than that, I don’t see any reason not to pursue this.
I think putting data centers in space is very forward-thinking. It’s a question of when and not if. It’s inevitable that it’s going to happen.
Because you’re solving the energy problem, you’re solving the water problem, and then you don’t need huge geo-footprints to house data centers here. You’re shipping them to space.
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