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The Conversation
The Conversation
Domenico Vicinanza, Associate Professor of Intelligent Systems and Data Science, Anglia Ruskin University

Data centres in space: they’re a brilliant idea, but a herculean challenge

Be under no illusions ... Frame Stock Footage/Shutterstock

Data centres are the backbone of our digital infrastructure, supporting everything from social media platforms to online shopping and streaming services. With the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing and the internet of things, the amount of data generated and processed daily is extremely large, and the demand for data centres is constantly growing.

Data centres, unfortunately, are massively energy hungry – among a host of other environmental drawbacks. One possible solution is to build them in space, and several companies are working on making this a reality. So how would this work, and is it really going to happen?

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