Thanks to the emerging private space sector, the costs of both space launches and satellite hardware continue to fall, and constellations of satellites in low earth orbit promise to make satellite internet connectivity faster, cheaper and more reliable. That connectivity can be an ideal option for otherwise inaccessible edge locations and mobile operators are investigating using satellites as cell towers as one option for delivering the larger numbers of base stations needed for 5G and beyond. But over the next decade, satellites could also become compute platforms, with tiny data centers in orbit processing data gathered in space or workloads sent up from terrestrial edge locations.

For many edge cases, the old real estate mantra of ‘location, location, location’ is key, because it’s about getting the compute in exactly the right place; but there is often a tradeoff with the difficulty of providing connectivity in remote locations (for remote deployment, management and collection of data for further analysis). Large geographical areas in many countries still have no mobile data coverage[1] and even developed countries with strong coverage have poor network performance in rural areas, because of terrain as well as the distance from the cell mast.

Satellite connectivity is a key technology for expanding coverage of wireless communications networks to more remote areas, including oceans and temporary installations for sporting and entertainment events, as well as for emergency services (imagine firefighters equipped with real-time satellite imagery directing drops of fire suppressant or water, or live video to help a remote surgeon guide a paramedic in a trauma center).

The nature of satellite compute makes it ideal for imagery and sensing in remote areas. That has some compelling humanitarian applications: detecting floods and wildfires, tracking crop health and signs of drought or monitoring endangered animals at risk of poaching. But it will also be useful for more authoritarian regimes, with applications like tracking refugees trying to cross a remote border. That means organizations collecting satellite data or considering uses for satellite compute should put in place an ethical framework to guide the choices and decisions they make here; something questions about the use of Russian facilities for satellite launches have made more of a priority.  

Despite the complexity and challenges, data centers in space are likely to be commercially available at least in a limited form within five to ten years. Initially the resources will likely be limited, and developing applications for them will be more like working with IoT devices than building for the on-premises, access or regional edge. But for the right applications, low earth compute could be the next frontier.

[1] https://en.unesco.org/news/new-report-global-broadband-access-underscores-urgent-need-reach-half-world-still-unconnected

This is an except from the chapter on the edge in space that I wrote (with Simon Bisson) for the State of the Edge report 2022: you can read the whole chapter here:

• edge

• space

• satellites

• security

• geopolitics

• ethics

• machine learning

• hardware

• 5G

• connectivity