We don't want datacentres taking our electricity; we don't think we can beam power from space. But suppose we could do our compute in space...? I'd written that off two years ago as "cockamamie" and indeed ToughSF last month. Well: It's baaack.
A patent now exists for the heliosync orbit: US-12679564-B2 at ppubs.uspto.gov. Various factors as of 2026 are making this less silly. Sophia Space has press-releases, linked at Zim's place.
Heliosync in theory runs 400-1000 km so, LEO. In practice they don't want drag: superfast atmo, which degrades... everything. They also don't want the congestion which reaches further, maybe to 600 km. So they're thinking 800 km. They must beam the data to a comm array anyway, which may as well be SpaceX' constellation of Starlink v2.
Heliosync around Earth gets about 1.361 kW/m² "flux", more than that most the year because of eccentricity. The patent illo assumes they can drive 1 kW/m² from the solar-cells, which they expect η=.3. They leave the material to others; maybe Perovskite. Anyway I read 400 W/m² available to the computer, not 1000. Also here are transmitters, of data.
Some of that flux is reflected (5% here); less is transmitted. Most that heat needs radiating-off, still maybe 1.3 kW/m². The good news, if they insulate the computer: the computer is wide, flat, and narrow. They think that the shaded darkness will allow "passive" radiation through the shade, into space. More good news: most office CPUs seem to run in the 45-65 W range as long as you are not gaming on them. 400 W/m² might make for a respectable server-farm.
The design is simple if they can stow the volume onto a rocket chassis. Direct 800 km looks like a Starship job.
In addition, if the Lunar south pole gets a superstructure, similar architecture might work there too. For a start. (Later we expect coolant-cycles underground.)
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