'It's cold in space ' [but] there's no airflow, and so the only way to dissipate is through conduction,' Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said when asked about space-based data centers during his firm's most recent earnings call. Now, Sophia Space has raised $10 million from investors, including Alpha Funds, KDDI Green Partners Fund, and Unlock Venture Partners. The company plans to prove out a new approach to passively cooling space computers on the ground, then buy a satellite bus from Apex Space and show that it works in orbit by late 2027 or early 2028. Companies like SpaceX, Google, or Starcloud are examining traditional satellite form factors for their proposed space data center constellations, which rely on large radiators to keep chips in optimal thermal condition. But Sophia Space's founders ' CTO Leon Alkalai, CEO Rob DeMillo, and chief growth officer Brian Monnin ' have a different approach. The company's tech comes from an unusual source: a $100-million-endowed program at Caltech...
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