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| * [[ Events2009 | Events ]] . . . recent [[ http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/1431656 | video ]] of a presentation at [[ http://linuxfestnorthwest.org/ | Linuxfest Northwest ]] . . . latest [[ http://server-sky.com/slides/bridge2009jun16-100pct/index.html | web-based slide show ]] | * [[ Events2009 | Events ]] . . . recent [[ http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/1431656 | video ]] of a presentation at [[ http://linuxfestnorthwest.org/ | Linuxfest Northwest ]] . . . latest [[ http://server-sky.com/slides/bridge2009jun16_100pct/index.html | web-based slide show ]] |
Server Sky - internet and computation in orbit
It is easier to move bits than atoms or energy.
Server-sats are ultralight disks of silicon that convert sunlight into computation and communications. Powered by a large solar cell, propelled and steered by light pressure, networked and located by microwaves, and cooled by radiation into deep space. Arrays of tens of thousands of server-sats act as highly redundant computation and database servers, as well as phased array antennas to reach thousands of transceivers on the ground.
First generation server-sats are 20 centimeters across ( about 8 inches ) and 0.1 millimeters (100 microns) thick, and weigh 7 grams. They can be mass produced with off-the-shelf semiconductor technologies. Gallium arsenide radio chips provide intra-array, inter-array, and ground communication, as well as precise location information. Server-sats are launched stacked by the thousands in solid cylinders, shrouded and vibration isolated inside a traditional satellite bus.
Traditional data centers consume almost 3% of US electrical power, and this fraction is growing rapidly. Server arrays in orbit can grow to virtually unlimited computation power, communicate with the whole world, pay for themselves with electricity savings, and greatly reduce pollution and resource usage in the biosphere.
Server Sky is speculative. The most likely technical showstopper is radiation damage. The most likely practical showstopper is ignorance. Working together, we can fix the latter.
Radios for communication, interconnect, synchronization, radar, and orientation
The Space Environment - Radiation, Drag, Collisions, Erosion
Future Possibilities - low cost launch, terascale arrays, beam power to Earth, scientific sensors
Events . . . recent video of a presentation at Linuxfest Northwest . . . latest web-based slide show
This website is under construction - most of the sections need filling in. A recent design change scaled the serversat from 16 inches to 8 inches across - not all the pages are caught up yet. Some of the information in the slide presentations has not made it onto the wiki yet.