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| ''Click RecentChanges on any page to see what I've been working on lately.'' | |
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| It is easier to move bits than atoms or energy. | Keith Lofstrom will present Server Sky to the Rose City Astronomers (Portland, OR) 2012 August 20 ------- It is easier to move bits than atoms or energy. |
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| Server-sats are ultralight films of glass 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. | Server Sky thinsats are ultralight films of glass that convert sunlight into computation and communications. Powered by solar cells, propelled and steered by light pressure, networked and located by microwaves, and cooled by radiation into deep space. Arrays of tens of thousands of thinsats act as highly redundant computation and database servers, as well as phased array antennas to reach thousands of transceivers on the ground. |
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| First generation server-sats are 20 centimeters across ( about 8 inches ) and 0.1 millimeters (50 microns) thick, and weigh 3 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. | First generation thinsats are 18 centimeters across (about 7 inches) and 0.05 millimeters (50 microns) thick, and weigh 3 grams. They can be mass produced with off-the-shelf semiconductor and display technologies. Gallium arsenide radio chips provide intra-array, inter-array, and ground communication, as well as precise location information. Thinsats are launched stacked by the thousands in solid cylinders, shrouded and vibration isolated inside a traditional satellite bus. |
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| * [[ ServerSatV3 | Server-sat Detailed Description ]] | * [[ 212acres | Why Bother? 212 Acres and a Marble ]] |
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| * [[ NavigationV01 | Solar Sail Propulsion and Navigation ]] |
* [[ ThinsatV3 | Thinsat Detailed Description ]] * [[ NavigationV01 | Thinsat Propulsion and Navigation ]] |
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| * [[ LaunchingV01 | Launching Server-sats from Earth ]] | * [[ LaunchingV01 | Launching Thinsats from Earth ]] |
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| * [[ Manufacturing | Manufacturing Server-sats ]] | * [[ Manufacturing | Manufacturing Thinsats ]] |
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| * [[ http://launchloop.com | The Launch Loop ]], a speculative space launch system useful for launching Server Sky. | * [[ http://launchloop.com | The Launch Loop ]], a speculative space launch system useful for launching Server Sky. |
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| sign up for the wiki and go to it. If you add spam or nonsense, I will revert the page, or move the content elsewhere. | send me an ASCII (not html) email {{attachment:em.png}} and I will add you to the editor's list. |
Server Sky - internet and computation in orbit
Click RecentChanges on any page to see what I've been working on lately.
Keith Lofstrom will present Server Sky to the Rose City Astronomers (Portland, OR) 2012 August 20
It is easier to move bits than atoms or energy.
Server Sky thinsats are ultralight films of glass that convert sunlight into computation and communications. Powered by solar cells, propelled and steered by light pressure, networked and located by microwaves, and cooled by radiation into deep space. Arrays of tens of thousands of thinsats act as highly redundant computation and database servers, as well as phased array antennas to reach thousands of transceivers on the ground.
First generation thinsats are 18 centimeters across (about 7 inches) and 0.05 millimeters (50 microns) thick, and weigh 3 grams. They can be mass produced with off-the-shelf semiconductor and display technologies. Gallium arsenide radio chips provide intra-array, inter-array, and ground communication, as well as precise location information. Thinsats 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.
The goal is an energy and space launch growth path that follows Moore's Law, with the cost of energy and launch halving every two years. Server Sky may cost two to ten times as much as ground-based computation in 2015, but is may cost 100 times less in 2035. The computation growth driven by Moore's Law is solving difficult problems from genetics to improved manufacture for semiconductors. If Server Sky and Moore's Law can do the same for clean energy, we can get rid of the carbon fuel plants, undam the rivers, and reduce atmospheric CO2 far sooner than we had dared hope. Energy production systems based on manual manufacturing, human construction assembly, and the use of terrestrial land, biological habitat, and surface water, packaged to survive weather, gravity, and corrosion, cannot grow at the same rate as Moore's Law.
Server Sky is speculative. The most likely technical showstopper is radiation damage. The most likely practical showstopper is misunderstanding. 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
Participate . . . . Mailing List Signup
Events . . . recent video of a presentation at Linuxfest Northwest . . . a web-based slide show . . . paper . . . one page writeup
The Launch Loop, a speculative space launch system useful for launching Server Sky.
This website is under construction - many of the sections need filling in. If you want to improve spelling, add expertise, etc... send me an ASCII (not html) email 
and I will add you to the editor's list.