ProductSpace / Orbital System
US Patent 12,679,564
US patent titled "Space-Based Data Centers," issued July 14, 2026 to the California Institute of Technology and Sophia Space, describing planar tiles with solar cells across one surface, radiator panels across the other, and electronic components between them.
Covered in 1 article · August 2026
Coverage
Aug 4, 2026
Sophia Space's Orbital Data Center Patent Trades Compute Density for Radiator Area
A worked example budgets 259 W of solar output per square meter of tile, implying a similar heat load. SpaceX's draft AI1 makes the opposite supercomputing bet: hotter liquid cooling and pumps.
Aug 4, 2026 · By SCN Staff · 10 min read