Server Sky - internet and computation in orbit
Server-sats are ultralight disks of silicon that convert sunlight into computation and radio energy. 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 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 400 millimeters across ( about 16 inches ) and 0.1 millimeters (100 microns) thick, and weigh 30 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 precision 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 more than 2% 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.