The study compares central-core, integrated-plane, mixed-tile, fleet, ribbon, disk, and curved architectures. Its provisional reference uses a compact planar mosaic with separate photovoltaic tiles and two-sided radiator tiles carrying distributed compute.
Research manuscript / 03
The physical form of an orbital data centre
Studies how solar collection, thermal radiation, compute placement, structure, and interconnect should determine an orbital data centre’s physical form. Topology, deployed outline, and fleet fragmentation are treated as separate design decisions.
Scope
The question behind the study.
- Which surface arrangement collects power and rejects heat with workable transport paths?
- How do packing, routing, interfaces, and duplicated spacecraft systems change the trade-off?
- Which deployment, thermal, structural, and compute assumptions need further qualification?
Reading the results
Assumptions stay visible.
Revision C is an analytical concept study with reproducible calculations. The selected form is provisional. Connected deployment, dynamics, thermal survival, qualified compute hardware, and complete launch mass remain open. This is not a manufacturing release or an institutional publication.