[bigyabai]

> this is such a limiter on the ground that SpaceX is pursuing AI satellites in space

What is your source for this claim? It sounds like conjecture to me.

Neither power nor construction is easier in space than it is on Earth. Higher power means higher heat dissipation, which means higher-cost satellites or downsized AI hardware. Construction is monumentally more expensive when you have to ship GPUs and their associated infrastructure away from the planet where they're manufactured.

SpaceX's orbital compute will not compete against any ground-based AI capacity. It will most likely be used for edge processing of Starlink sensor data, either as an SAR solution, multiband jamming apparatus, or any other SDR applications used at the orbital scale. There is no other justification that I am aware of that necessitates space-based AI inference. The commercial space-based AI line is a glaringly obvious coverup.

[Karrot_Kream]

Elon has mentioned this in interviews and the S-2 for SpaceX calls out permitting challenges as a reason for moving to space. Elon being Elon, I don't really believe him but this is what he claims at least.

[ihumanable]

I hear they have real loose permitting regulations on Mars, and I think Elon was supposed to have a colony up and running about a decade ago, so that should all work out for him.