The maximum heat rejection capacity of the ISS is 126Kw.
Musk’s proposal is to put 1 rack per satellite drawing 150kw using 110 m^2 of radiators (1/4th that of the ISS). The only way to do that is by running the satellite at 71-100C which is a problem for the chips to actually run.
So the open questions are:
* can they actually dump the heat and can they have the racks running so hot for so long
* is it economical to in one year replace all the capacity you launched 5 years ago (you save up to 0.5B in electricity costs over that time frame but that doesn’t seem like a lot for having to replace that much capacity buildup)? And given they’re running racks way hotter than has been validated on earth, will those chips end up lasting 5 years (including space radiation).
Pretending like it’s a solved problem is neat but I’m not saying sure it’ll be so easy.
Musk’s proposal is to put 1 rack per satellite drawing 150kw using 110 m^2 of radiators (1/4th that of the ISS). The only way to do that is by running the satellite at 71-100C which is a problem for the chips to actually run.
So the open questions are: * can they actually dump the heat and can they have the racks running so hot for so long * is it economical to in one year replace all the capacity you launched 5 years ago (you save up to 0.5B in electricity costs over that time frame but that doesn’t seem like a lot for having to replace that much capacity buildup)? And given they’re running racks way hotter than has been validated on earth, will those chips end up lasting 5 years (including space radiation).
Pretending like it’s a solved problem is neat but I’m not saying sure it’ll be so easy.