Is It Really Impossible To Cool A Datacenter In Space? [24:29]

YouTube ^ | March 18, 2026 | Scott Manley

[SunkenCiv]

Let's actually explain how thermal balance of spacecraft works, and how we'd need to configure a spacecraft to eliminate the heat that's produced by computer equipment crunching numbers in a space data center. 

This is all very rough, and I overestimated the size of the starlink V3, but it's still in the ballpark. Real designers of course can't just use 'in the ballpark'. 

Is It Really Impossible To Cool A Datacenter In Space? | 24:29 
Scott Manley | 1.87M subscribers | 1,073,338 views | March 18, 2026

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TOPICS: Business/Economy; Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: elonmusk; nasa; spacex; starship

[SunkenCiv]

[Transcript snip] So now imagine our Starlink satellite trying to get rid of 20 kwh at room temperature. At 420 watts per square meter, it would need about 50 square meters. Now we can divide that by two because a thin flat spacecraft like Starlink has two sides 25 square meters for the entire satellite... we're looking at the V3 satellites... And those look to be about 7 m wide on the rails with two per rack. So let's just say it's 7 m by 3 1/2 m. That's 24 m per side. And wow, I did not expect this to be so close... the swarm of AI servers is becoming the solution that people are actually pursuing... maybe finally people will stop arguing over the ease of cooling computers and things in space and instead start arguing about the real problem of cooling nuclear reactors in space. [/snip]

[SunkenCiv]

🚀🛰️

[escapefromboston]

If you can “theoretically” put data centers in space why do you have to put data centers near residential areas ?
Half the country is empty , there are plenty of places you can put these things so people don’t get mad (justified or not)

[SunkenCiv]

[re: Chinese EV makers] What happens when an EV brand goes bankrupt and the company behind your car disappears? From WM Motor, Neta, HiPhi, Jiyue and Fisker to other struggling electric car startups, owners are discovering that a dead automaker can mean broken apps, no software updates, missing spare parts, lost warranties and collapsing resale values. 

In this video, we break down the hidden risks of buying an EV from a failing brand, the China EV bankruptcy crisis, what happens to your car after an automaker collapses, and why some owners end up trapped with vehicles they can barely repair or sell. 

Your EV Brand Is Going Bankrupt -- And Your Car Dies With It | 10:51 
| 1.07K subscribers | 6 views | November 7, 2026

 

Timestamp: 

00:00 Start 
00:48 The EV Bankruptcy Problem 
01:35 160,000 Owners Left Stranded 
02:05 Stage 1 -- The App Goes Dark 
03:20 Stage 2 -- Software Updates Stop 
04:28 The Car Still Drives… But Features Disappear 
05:12 Stage 3 -- Spare Parts Vanish 
06:38 When Repairs Become Almost Impossible 
07:18 Stage 4 -- Resale Value Collapses 
08:22 Fisker Owners Lose Thousands 
09:18 The Trap: You Can’t Fix It or Sell It 
10:07 How EV Owners Are Fighting Back 
10:48 How to Protect Yourself Before Buying 
11:45 The Real Risk of a Cheap EV

[Scrambler Bob]

So is the only cooling from radiation to some colder body?

No air for convection?

No solids for conduction?

If the data center has to radiate heat to somewhere, where does it go? The Moon? The Earth? We still have problems. More global and planetary warming.

[ComputerGuy]

Just open a few doors and windows.
Things will quickly cool down.

[DesertRhino]

Put them near population centers. That is who is using them. Don’t destroy farmland and so called empty areas. The date canters are for the benefit of population concentrations… so that it where they belong, not trashing the last natural areas of the country.

Cities make a lot of garbage and sewage too. Why not just dump all that in “empty” areas?
The USSR operated that way.

[SunkenCiv]

Yeah, and rockets can’t fly in space because there’s no air to push against.

[DesertRhino]

You don’t want it right inside cities because you don’t like the light pollution, the noise, the electricity and water usage etc. Do you believe people in rural areas think any differently? Western states aren’t just the dumping ground of America.

[DesertRhino]

How does heat dissipate differently with no atmosphere? Any ideas?

[SunkenCiv]

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[SunkenCiv]

Radiation. Oh, but the radiant Sun doesn’t heat the Earth, I forgot.

[SunkenCiv]

That worked for the Japanese vessels during WWII battles, it’ll work now! 😀

[bobbo666]

No, not even close. The Webb telescope must have its lenses at near absolute zero. How? By turning the telescope so that its lens are always in the shadow of the satellite.

Do the same with any data center. Put the heat exchangers (radiative, of course) in the shadow of the servers. There is no transfer of heat to anything but vacuum. That is why almost all space ships’ major problem is keeping everything warm enough.