Posted on 07/15/2026 1:37:28 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
The assessment comes from Antonio Gracias, one of SpaceX's earliest investors, who was speaking Wednesday at the Pennsylvania Defense and Innovation Summit in Carlisle on the broader implications of Artificial Intelligence, technology and warfare...
"The Chinese are very good at copying. Everyone knows this. And they have great industrial capacity," he said. "SpaceX landed its first rocket in 2015. It took them 11 years to catch us. We just need to stay ahead. And we are ahead." ...
"If it took them 11 years to copy the Falcon 9 reusable rocket, it'll take them a lot longer to copy Starship. It's much harder to do," he said, referring to SpaceX's next-generation heavy-lift vehicle...
As launch costs fall, the feasibility of putting large-scale computing facilities in Earth's orbit increases. Once in space, the massive costs for powering and cooling artificial intelligence systems all but vanish, he said.
"Data center in space are so important," Gracias emphasized. "It takes the cost of power down to basically zero."
While China can focus incredible amounts of industrial might on a single objective, Gracias said America holds advantages with its innovation culture and entrepreneurial ecosystem. The only obstacle is red tape and regulation.
"If you turn us loose, you turn loose SpaceX, turn loose the American industrial base to innovate, drive and build, we will win," Gracias said. "We will absolutely win."
His comments came during a broader panel discussion focused on artificial intelligence, military competition and China's challenge to U.S. technological leadership. Participants repeatedly described AI, energy production, computing infrastructure and space systems as interconnected components that will determine future global power.
In that context, China's successful rocket recovery wasn't the end of a race. It's the beginning.
(Excerpt) Read more at pennlive.com ...
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I hope SpaceX isn’t encountering red tape from our own government.
I remember under Biden NASA and the FAA were reacting slowly ot Elon’s launch cycle, but isn’t that behind us now?
🚀🌐🛜
China catches rocket for first time in fishing net.
Rocket is Long March 10B and is roughly comparable to a Falcon 9, in payload capacity and size. While its a huge success for them to retrieve a 1st stage booster, its not at all the same thing as starship. Its also not where Falcon 9 is.
SpaceX is making yearly records of hundreds of successful launches of Falcon 9’s.
Data centers, at least on Earth, are HUGH, much larger than the US space station.! How will it work to construct in LEO and be able to maneuver them to keep them safe from space debris?
I am guessing there will be a thousand, or perhaps 10,000 smaller units all working together...
I guess it’s all doable but anything in space starts off hard to do and stays there, for the most part.
Even small data centers in space will be huge. Only Starship and New Glenn, both still in the experimental phases, will be able to launch them.
Question -
Which Data Center stores my local Flock Camera Liscence plate pictures?
My closest on to me?
Or somewhere else, or do they spread it around, or is it duplicated, etc.??
If some AI is solving a problem does it have to access a bunch of data centers maybe located accross the country or farther? Or does that matter?
and then there’s this:
Electronics in space are quite vulnerable to cosmic rays and other space radiation, but the risk varies significantly by orbit, technology, shielding, and mission duration. Without mitigation, commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components can experience frequent errors or failures, which is why radiation-hardened (rad-hard) or radiation-tolerant designs are standard for critical space systems. Main Radiation Sources and EffectsSpace radiation comes from three primary sources:
Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCRs): High-energy protons, heavy ions (from supernovae, etc.), arriving from all directions. Energies up to 10²⁰ eV (though flux peaks around 1 GeV/nucleon). Hard to shield because they penetrate materials and create secondary particles.
Solar Energetic Particles (SEPs/SPEs): Bursts from solar flares/CMEs, mostly protons. Can be intense but somewhat predictable/shieldable.
Trapped radiation (e.g., Van Allen belts): Relevant in certain Earth orbits.
Key effects on electronics:
Total Ionizing Dose (TID): Cumulative damage from ionization, leading to threshold voltage shifts, increased leakage, and eventual failure. Measured in rad(Si) or Gy. Degrades performance over time.
Single Event Effects (SEEs): Caused by a single high-energy particle. Includes:
Single Event Upsets (SEUs): Bit flips in memory or logic (soft errors, often correctable).
Single Event Latch-up (SEL): High current draw that can destroy a device if not mitigated.
Single Event Transients (SETs), functional interrupts, or permanent damage (e.g., gate ruptures).
Modern smaller transistors (finer process nodes) are more sensitive because even a single particle can deposit enough charge to flip a bit or trigger issues. Older/larger-feature components are often more tolerant. Vulnerability by Environment
Low Earth Orbit (LEO, e.g., ISS ~400 km): Earth’s magnetosphere provides significant shielding. Radiation is lower (often 100–1,000+ rad/year depending on inclination; higher at poles). Many COTS components work with mitigation; rad-hard not always mandatory for short missions. SEE rates are manageable but still occur.
Geostationary (GEO) or Medium Earth Orbit (MEO): Higher exposure to trapped particles and cosmic rays. Doses can reach 10–100 krad over mission life or more.
Deep space (e.g., to Mars, beyond magnetosphere): Worst case. Full GCR exposure + solar events. No geomagnetic protection. Cumulative doses much higher; heavy ions cause more severe SEEs. Long missions require robust hardening.
Particle flux is continuous but varies with solar cycle (higher during solar minimum for GCRs). Solar events can spike dramatically.How Vulnerable in Practice?
Commercial electronics: Can see SEU rates of 10⁻⁵ to 10⁻³ errors/bit/day or higher in space (varies by device/orbit), plus TID failure after tens to hundreds of krad. A single heavy ion can cause latch-up or burnout.
Without mitigation: Missions can fail quickly (e.g., memory corruption, computer crashes, permanent damage).
With standard practices: Satellites and probes operate reliably for years/decades. ISS and LEO constellations use tolerant designs successfully.
Mitigation StrategiesSpace agencies and companies use multiple layers:
Radiation Hardening by Process (Rad-Hard): Special manufacturing (e.g., SOI/SOS substrates, wider bandgaps like SiC/GaN). Can tolerate 100s of krad to Mrad TID.
Radiation Hardening by Design (RHBD): Redundancy (e.g., Triple Modular Redundancy/TMR), error-correcting codes (ECC), watchdog timers, shielded layouts, enclosed transistors.
Shielding: Aluminum or other materials (effective against electrons/protons; less so for high-energy GCRs). Adds mass.
Software/Operational: Error detection/correction, scrubbing memory, safe modes during solar events, redundancy.
Testing: Ground simulation with particle accelerators, cobalt-60 for TID, etc.
COTS components are increasingly used in LEO with these techniques for cost savings, but deep-space missions rely more on true rad-hard parts. In summary, electronics are highly vulnerable in their raw commercial form—especially in higher orbits or deep space—but engineering solutions make reliable operation routine. The exact risk depends heavily on specifics; missions undergo detailed radiation analysis and testing. For cutting-edge small satellites or long deep-space probes, it’s one of the biggest design challenges.
” Once in space, the massive costs for powering and cooling artificial intelligence systems all but vanish, “
How’s that? The need a lot of energy and a lot of cooling capacity.
If you ever read the Candlemaker’s Petition you know that the Sun is an unfair competitor. He distributes energy and light for free!
Space based data centers will have a known, upfront cost for energy, and then it’s free after that. You also won’t have NIMBY local policies and taxes to deal with…
Bkmk
Hugh solar arrays and large radiators.
Musk can mop the floor with his imitators...
I remember going back three decades China’s Great Wall was supposed to take over the commercial space launch industry.
Didn’t happen.
These things never happen. Chicom ponzi scheme is never ending, though.
Data Centers in space won’t be a thing any more than the jetpacks we were promised. There are too many physical issue, the primary among them are cooling and power.
It’s worth keeping an eye on, but I always remember how they had at least one block of apartment buildings that fell over during a heavy rain.
SpaceX is already dealing with it in their Starlink systems. No brownouts, no problem dumping heat. They know how, and do it.
It’s interesting and ironic that we had Von Braun building the F1 engines and understanding better than anyone how to engineer round-trips to the Moon, and coordinated by a massively expanding NASA, financed by the gubmint; while the USSR had two different design bureaus, a kinda pathetic imitation of free market competition, and to this day — as the USSR or the Russian Federation — have never sent anyone beyond Earth orbit.
” Once in space, the massive costs for powering and cooling artificial intelligence systems all but vanish, “
“How’s that? The need a lot of energy and a lot of cooling capacity.”
—————
So, how much in utility bills are data center companies going to pay the Sun? What does outer space charge for radiating heat into it?
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