SpaceX’s orbital data centers would create a new category of e-waste

Skip to content What’s mined is yours The yeetcycling math resembles asteroid mining in reverse. Credit: Aurich Lawson | Getty Images Credit: Aurich Lawson | Getty Images Elon Musk’s talk about maintaining a million-strong AI data center satellite megaconstellation may not exactly be practical or economical, but it might be unique. It’s about the closest we’ve come to confronting a scheme that would export a considerable amount of valuable materials into space. Humans aren’t doing a great job of material sustainability, but normally we’re talking about stuff escaping a recycling pipeline rather than escaping Earth’s gravitational pull. The commercial space sector likes talking about the allure of mining asteroids for precious metals to bring back to Earth. Under what circumstances are we g