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be unmanned and entirely robotised for assembly and maintenance . This is quite within our current technological capacity and would be much cheaper than a manned station system . A key innovation was , therefore , to come up with an architecture composed of elements that could be stacked in a launcher and easily assembled with robots . Another key innovation was to demonstrate that a lowfootprint heavy lift launcher was feasible , it just had not been the foremost concern up to now .
What measures are being taken to ensure the development and maintenance of space-based data centres adhere to green principles ?
Space data centres use solar power generated in orbit , which suppresses energy consumption through ground energy grids , which is the main challenge of ground data centres . Water consumption , which is used to cool ground servers – and which has become a concern – is also eliminated as heat is directly radiated in space .
The main environmental impact of data centres assembled in space comes from the launch phase , which must be minimised . The ASCEND study showed that it was possible to develop a heavy lift launcher with sufficient capacity and a very low carbon footprint , and with the capacity to bring the servers back to earth to be maintained or recycled .
The main challenge is the development of such a green launcher , but we know that it is feasible . It would also have such a strong guaranteed order book , considering the number of launches necessary every year , that it would be rapidly competitive .
How do the environmental benefits translate into economic viability and potential return on investment for stakeholders by 2050 ?
Data centres are growing very rapidly with the exploding need for data processing , in particular for new AI or other cryptocurrencies applications .
The Internal Energy Agency is forecasting that , for example , Ireland ’ s data centres may reach a share of 32 % of the country ’ s total electricity demand in 2026 . There will come a time when there will be competition between priority usages for clean energy demand , which may require regulation . It may then become economically viable to rely on a new energy source for data centres which are particularly well adapted for orbital functioning .
What are the main challenges Thales Alenia Space and its partners anticipate in the development of space-based data centres ?
The ASCEND study showed that such a project would rely on ‘ classical ’ space technology , already available or currently being developed , such as in-space servicing or assembly with robotics , or laser communications . The main challenge is the scale of such a project . It would require a strong industrialisation of
Yves Durand , Director of Technology for Thales Alenia Space
space infrastructure manufacturing . This would in turn allow for a rapid decrease in space hardware and launch costs , which would bring a strong competitive advantage for space data centres but also future space missions .
With the ASCEND project aiming to contribute to Europe ’ s digital sovereignty , what are the next steps in the initiative and what milestones should we expect to see in the coming years ?
Digital sovereignty is important and requires mastering the hardware and software technologies involved in a cloud architecture system . The nice thing about such space cloud system architecture is that it can be developed very incrementally . A small space cloud architecture will already provide services such as rapid environmental events detection , with Edge Computing capability for example .
A demonstrator or proof of concept approach is therefore proposed , with a first high-power 50kW demonstration of cloud-in-space services , to be launched rapidly with currently available launchers .
The next step by 2035 would be an operational data centre in the 10MW capacity range , able to provide commercial services , and demonstrate in-orbit assembly and maintenance capacity . The main goal is to make a substantial contribution to the carbonneutral objectives of Europe with a 1GW system by 2050 . �
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