Data center in Space

[SticKx911]

“Nvidia is sending GPUs to the moon​

“What we at Lunar Outpost are currently working on is how do we go from exploration to permanence, how do we actually build that outpost on the moon?” Cyrus said. “We do think combining our deterministic models plus the physical AI layer — that’s what allows us to make a human presence in space sustainable, actually having that robotic workforce.”

In the next few years, Lunar Outpost has several smaller autonomous rovers scheduled for launch to the moon, and one larger one, Pegasus, that is intended to carry astronauts. Pegasus is waiting on a rocket built by Jeff Bezos’ space company, Blue Origin, to carry it to the moon, but that launch vehicle suffered an anomaly this summer and it’s not clear when it will return to flight.

“It does seem like they’re making pretty darn good progress on the pad,” Cyrus said. “I can’t really answer Blue Origin’s timelines or NASA’s timelines on the pad reconstruction, but everything we’ve been told, we’re on the same timeline [for 2028].”

That leaves futuristic visions of space data centers and fleets of robots at work on the moon both waiting on the same thing: a bigger rocket.“

https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/23/nvidia-is-sending-gpus-to-the-moon/

At least on the moon, they can probably leverage geothermal cooling in a closed loop setup. I won't knock them for dreaming, and despite the distance involved, I think that a moon data center makes more sense than one that orbits the earth to eventually become a giant man made asteroid.

 

[kram182]

At least on the moon, they can probably leverage geothermal cooling in a closed loop setup. I won't knock them for dreaming, and despite the distance involved, I think that a moon data center makes more sense than one that orbits the earth to eventually become a giant man made asteroid.

It's only talking about rovers/crafts powered by Nvidia Jetson going to the Moon - no Moon based DC planned yet I'm aware of (outside future plans for eventual US Moon base which will have some form of compute to start) - all space based DCs still focused on LEO first, with MEO next

Edit - there is a DC but more just a data-locker/backup on the Moon: https://interestingengineering.com/space/lonestar-first-solar-powered-moon-data-center

 

[1.1.2.3.5...]

Let’s grow our food in space too!! Save all that land and water!!

https://www.brightfarms.com/
I suppose it would not be technically impossible to produce some food in space, but food is extremely low margin so making that profitable would impossible. But this is obviously hyperbole used as a rhetorical device.

 

[1.1.2.3.5...]

At least on the moon, they can probably leverage geothermal cooling in a closed loop setup. I won't knock them for dreaming, and despite the distance involved, I think that a moon data center makes more sense than one that orbits the earth to eventually become a giant man made asteroid.

The moon is ~ 239k miles. c is a vacuum is 186,282.4 mi/s. How much latency is acceptable here?

 

[1.1.2.3.5...]

It's only talking about rovers/crafts powered by Nvidia Jetson going to the Moon - no Moon based DC planned yet I'm aware of (outside future plans for eventual US Moon base which will have some form of compute to start) - all space based DCs still focused on LEO first, with MEO next

Edit - there is a DC but more just a data-locker/backup on the Moon: https://interestingengineering.com/space/lonestar-first-solar-powered-moon-data-center

I think the real value chain is LEO edge compute for FSD. An all electric fleet of tractor trailers with RT inner loop on board (controls are sub 5ms). For logistics planning, you have space edge compute that can see the full picture of traffic, routes, recharge stations, across both trucking and cars. Near real-time planning and path navigation forms a space based outer loop can run at 5 Hz (this is effectively the global optimizer outer loop).

 

[SticKx911]

The moon is ~ 239k miles. c is a vacuum is 186,282.4 mi/s. How much latency is acceptable here?

Offsite backup doesn't have to be fast. It's not a gaming server. Even for remote processing, cooling equipment in orbit in near vacuum at best has to be harder than a geothermal loop through the lunar surface that's probably super cold.

 

[4saken]

Offsite backup doesn't have to be fast. It's not a gaming server. Even for remote processing, cooling equipment in orbit in near vacuum at best has to be harder than a geothermal loop through the lunar surface that's probably super cold.

brb starting a vacuum gapped data protection startup.

 

[SticKx911]

brb starting a vacuum gapped data protection startup.

Everything around us today was science fiction 50 years ago.

I'd also rather them build them on the moon than in every city in the country. I'll happily encourage them to dream as their alternative is to continue to build everywhere they can here.

 

[Tsumi]

Offsite backup doesn't have to be fast. It's not a gaming server. Even for remote processing, cooling equipment in orbit in near vacuum at best has to be harder than a geothermal loop through the lunar surface that's probably super cold.

Lunar surface ranges from 120 C when facing the sun to -253 C in the permanently shadowed polar craters. Also, one lunar day is about 30 earth days since the moon is tidally locked to us. Cooling and power is not going to be simple on the moon either.

 

[SticKx911]

Lunar surface ranges from 120 C when facing the sun to -253 C in the permanently shadowed polar craters. Also, one lunar day is about 30 earth days since the moon is tidally locked to us. Cooling and power is not going to be simple on the moon either.

Dream crusher.
Good to know though. They'll just have to dig very very deep for those ground loops.

 

[littlegreenmenfromhome]

The moon is ~ 239k miles. c is a vacuum is 186,282.4 mi/s. How much latency is acceptable here?

Packet control is going to make it pure "joy" /S

 

[StoleMyOwnCar]

You know what? I guess I actually support this. I always support more work and research into space. I didn't think it would be due to a bunch of idiots trying to build datacenters on up there to escape regulations, but hey if it gets us a moon base... yeah, I guess I don't give a shit.

 

[LukeTbk]

The moon is ~ 239k miles. c is a vacuum is 186,282.4 mi/s. How much latency is acceptable here?

For many things minutes could be acceptable, from training models to run big batch/tasks.

People wait 6-8-12 hours for a Claude task or specialized to do medical research model response now, they probably want some feedback on how its is going some call back home is preferable, but latency in seconds instead of milliseconds is not a big deal once those agentic models work by their own.

AlphaFold type project have been running for 20,000 gpu-years or something during very verbose light and hand off mostly affair for that type of things even a week long latency could work.

 

[Tsumi]

You know what? I guess I actually support this. I always support more work and research into space. I didn't think it would be due to a bunch of idiots trying to build datacenters on up there to escape regulations, but hey if it gets us a moon base... yeah, I guess I don't give a shit.

True. Theoretically, they could set up in the permanent polar shadows and erect solar panels on the poles, that way they would just need to rotate the panels to keep them in sunlight. The lunar surface is also supposed to be an excellent source of tritium, currently the best fuel for nuclear fusion.