Plasticity

From first principles we humans are on a continous cycle of fulfilling our sci-fi dreams. And moving our most power hungry, loud, and powerful computers into space will enable us to unlock unlimited computing power at an infinite scale. The constraints we face here down on Earth is inverted in space. On Earth, you are regulated, you have power constraints, ethical concerns. But in vast space, energy is unlimited, there is enough space for any size of floating centers, and one of the keys to all of this: there are no laws stopping a gigantic mega space computing center. On earth, it seams as if we are in perpetuall competition with one another and out various ideologies and world views.

Moving the heaviest computing to space moves the burder of our remarkable plant, out into nothingness. As much as space computing is about exploiting, it is just as much about solving the calculus of how we humans can progress our technology without zapping all the resources of our plant.

Through data centers we can avoid the dystopian Blade Runner world, and instead keep our plant intact to the greatest degree, much like a natural reseroivar. And migrate much of the heavy energy to computing transformation (which is what a data center is).

A data center is fundementally a complex system where vast amounts of electricity, raw materials such as copper, is put into a low entropy system, which is then used to process one type of bits, into a new form of bits.

Philosophical element of space computing

Earth would be 'zoned residential and light industry' – a beautiful garden planet where people live and work – while all the polluting, energy-intensive manufacturing is done in space. — Jeff Bezos

There is a deep paradox in our human nature. We are striving individuals, we want to expand our technologies, consume more power and goods. Our human nature tend toward more. Our dopaminergic circuits (chemicals in brain that equals feeling of motivation or desire to get) and hedonic adaptation (the reset of happiness to baseline after acqusition or consumption of something, where desire for new is renewed) pushes us to continue perpetually in the creation of new things. For some this is seen as a distasteful part of our humaness, other do not give it much thought. But what is true is that our human nature will not change. So, for a sustainable technological progression, there is the need for a pragmatic solution to our increasing demands.

Space computing solves this piece of a great problem. In a world where every human will increase their bits processing per second, there is unlimited demand for space computing. As per Jeff, Earth remains unaltered when space becomes the new home for heavy computing and industry. Fundementally, all industry that gets worked on earth and is perceived as negative flips to a neutral in space. Because the constructed rules of what is bad on earth must then be looked at from first principles. There is nothing to destroy in space. Any pollution or such matters is completely irrelevant in space. You can fire up any dirty power you would like, and it is no different than a new super-nova explotion, or a new black hole.

We are earthly beings, and much of our world view is constrained to our immediate problems and desires in a perpetually body driven biological machine. We play by the rules of earth as beings. But in space, our perceived rules change.

The challenges of space computing

Space computing is a not a perfect vision without challenges. Here is a list of key challenges with space computing:

Vacuum Environment: In space's hard vacuum, heat rejection relies solely on radiation per the Stefan-Boltzmann law, which is inefficient at typical operating temperatures (e.g., requiring ~4,000 m² radiators for a 2 MW facility), unlike Earth's convection cooling.

Ionizing Radiation: Cosmic rays and solar particles cause total ionizing dose (cumulative degradation) and single-event effects like bit flips or latch-ups, limiting commercial electronics to 2-5 years in low Earth orbit and necessitating heavy shielding or redundancy.

Thermal Extremes and Cycling: Temperatures swing from -200°C in shadow to +120°C in sunlight, causing material expansion mismatches and accelerated component wear, with no air for standard cooling methods.

Power Intermittency: Low Earth orbit features 25-35% eclipse time per 90-minute cycle, requiring oversized solar arrays (e.g., 700 m² for 100 kW) and heavy batteries (~500 kg) to maintain continuous operation.

Launch Mass and Cost Constraints: Every kilogram to orbit incurs high costs (currently ~$2,900/kg, targeting under $100/kg), plus surviving launch vibrations and g-forces, severely limiting hardware scale and selection.

Communication Latency and Bandwidth: Light-speed limits impose 60-190 ms round-trip delays for low Earth orbit users, plus atmospheric interference and limited ground station access, favoring onboard processing over Earth relay.

Orbital Debris and Lifetime: High collision risks in crowded low Earth orbit require propulsion for evasion, shortening lifespans and complicating large structures that act as "debris magnets."

Maintenance and Reliability: Microgravity hinders repairs or upgrades, demanding fault-tolerant designs with 3x redundancy and autonomous recovery, as hardware failures like SSD burnout occur frequently.

Radiation in space

Shielding space computing from radiation with a hydrogen shield

Building a space computing center with hydrogen rich matierials as the primary sheild for radiation in combination with synergistic materials such as boron and gadolinium.

Hydrogen effectively fragments galactic cosmic rays (GCR), stops solar energetic particles (SEP), and moderates neutrons through elastic collisions. Materials like polyethylene (CH2) or ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) leverage high hydrogen content for these purposes, outperforming heavier elements like aluminum.

Polyethelene which is essentially plastic you use every day, is highly effective shielder of radiation because of its chemical composition CH2. The repeating -CH2-CH2- units excels in sheilding from neutrons by sheilding from their speed and if enhanced provides enhanced shielding through absorbation. Such enhanced versions of polyethylene uses boron (e.g., 5-30% boron) complete the full neutron shielding.

Polyethelyne alone is less effective than boron enhanced versions. Polyethylene degrades over time, but remains a cost effective protector.