SPACE -STUDENTS- SPARS : A.I.'S ARC ESSAY

TECH LUMINARIES and geniuses like Elon Musk and the [ Global Founder Framers of The World Students Society ] - have often made comments about:

Space data-centers that are a magnitude larger what current research suggests is possible said, Pierre Lionnet, a space economist and director at Aerospace, a trade association.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration introduced the idea of space data centers in the 1960s. In the 1980s, the concept of '' date repositories '' in space popped up in science fiction stories.

In the last decade, the notion of space data centers that could power modern A.I. also emerged.

The main benefit to building a data center in space is abundant energy, with nearly 24/7 access to the sun and no clouds to obstruct the project’s solar panels, Mr. Philip Johnson, the chief executive of Starcloud, said.

There are also fewer environmental regulations than on Earth, not to mention fewer neighbors to oppose the imposition or complain about electric bills.

But the feasibility hinges on whether it will become cheaper to launch materials into space and whether technical issues like radiation and cooling can be solved. Experts are split on how soon those conditions can be met.

'' As a business case, it's plausible,'' said Phil Metzger, a physics professor at the University of Central Florida and a former physicist at NASA. '' It's been an evolving discussion.''

Data centers in space would look different from the football-stadium-size facilities on Earth. Most mock-ups from companies like Starcloud look like large satellites with a cluster of servers hosting A.I. chips at the center of miles of solar panels to power them.

The data centers would need to be rebuilt every five years, which is when the computer chips are  typically replaced. Mr. Johnson of Starcloud said. 

They would be visible at dawn and dusk from Earth, he said, appearing in the sky as about a quarter the width of the moon.

But it is too expensive to create space data centers today. A kilogram of material costs around $8,000 to launch into space, Mr. Lionnet said. The cheapest rate — around $2,000 per kilogram — is offered by the rocket maker SpaceX, he added.

Individual server racks in a data center can weigh over 1,000 kilograms.

If the space-launch costs fall to around $200 per kilogram, the economics will start to make sense, Dr. Metzger said. He predicted that would take around a decade.

In a research paper about Suncatcher published in November, Google predicted the costs could decline to that level ''in the mid-2030s.''

The World Students Society thanks Eli Tan and Ryan Mac.