Elon Musk’s space-based AI network sparks debate over precious metal loss and environmental risks

Elon Musk’s planned large-scale AI data center network to be established in orbit has sparked debate not only for its technological capacity but also for its potential impact on Earth’s resources.

It is estimated that the system, which is stated to consist of one million satellites, could remove a large amount of precious metals from the planet’s recycling cycle every year due to hardware reaching the end of its service life.

While projects suggesting that new resources could be brought to Earth through asteroid mining have been on the agenda in the space sector for a long time, it is stated that this plan could create the opposite effect. While it is recalled that the mass of objects in low Earth orbit has increased significantly in a short time with Starlink satellites, it is expressed that the scale envisioned for the AI data center network could reveal a much larger picture.

The assumption that the graphics processors in the planned network have an average service life of five years means that approximately 200 thousand satellites would complete their mission each year. According to documents stated to have been submitted to official institutions, it is projected that 40 thousand of these satellites will be directed into the atmosphere to burn up, while 160 thousand will be moved away from Earth and pushed into a graveyard orbit.

ANNUAL LOSS QUANTITIES DRAW ATTENTION

Even in calculations made solely through graphics card components, the scale of the loss is striking. Accordingly, it could mean that approximately 1,000 tons of copper, 170 kilograms of gold, nearly 2 tons of silver, more than 20 tons of bismuth and titanium, over 2 tons of palladium, and 76 kilograms of thallium are either destroyed in the atmosphere or turn into permanent waste in orbit each year.

It is stated that these amounts could correspond to a significant portion of global production, especially for minerals with limited extraction such as palladium and thallium. Furthermore, warnings are being issued that aluminum components burning upon entering the atmosphere could create negative effects on the ozone layer that could span many years.

It is calculated that hundreds of meters of asteroids would need to be processed each year to compensate for the loss. For example, it is stated that to meet the copper demand, an asteroid with a diameter of 140 to 190 meters, and for tin, an asteroid of approximately 530 meters, might need to be utilized through mining.

The idea of establishing production facilities on the Moon instead of constantly carrying heavy loads from Earth is also on the agenda for the project. In this scenario, the goal is to produce the heavy bodies of the satellites with raw materials from the Moon, while sending lighter chip components from Earth. However, unlike hardware that can be recycled in data centers on Earth, this loss in space-based systems creates a new topic of debate both ecologically and economically.

News Source: 12punto