I learn two tales final week that — on the floor — had nothing to do with one another.
One was a few radical plan to beam daylight all the way down to Earth at night time to ship energy on demand from area.
The opposite was a few new Nvidia supercomputer, hand-delivered to Elon Musk’s SpaceX headquarters, that may assist practice the AI programs operating his rockets and satellites.
However once you take a look at the massive image, these articles validate one thing George Gilder and I’ve been saying for months…
That we’re on the verge of what we name “Convergence X.”
We’re seeing a fusion of applied sciences which might be turning once-separate industries right into a single, self-reinforcing system. In different phrases, power, computing energy and manufacturing are all merging into one steady loop.
And that loop is starting to play out above the planet.
A New Grid within the Sky
Area-based solar energy isn’t a brand new idea. It dates all the way in which again to the Sixties.
The thought is that satellites might accumulate daylight in orbit, the place it shines twenty-four hours a day, and beam it again to Earth as usable power.
However for many years, this idea has been dismissed as too costly or too sophisticated to be sensible.
That’s not the case right now.
In January 2023, a group at Caltech proved it could possibly be executed. Their experimental satellite tv for pc, known as SSPD-1, transmitted 200 milliwatts of energy from orbit to a pair of receivers on Earth., which is
Despite the fact that that was lower than a cellphone digital camera mild, it was sufficient to show that the physics works.
And now an organization known as Replicate Orbital desires to perform this at scale.
Their preliminary plan is to launch a constellation of 57 mirrored satellites into low-Earth orbit, every able to redirecting daylight onto photo voltaic farms or cities after darkish.
If the concept works, it might ultimately lengthen day by day photo voltaic manufacturing by as much as two hours per web site. This might equate to as a lot as a ten% to fifteen% increase in annual output with out including a single new panel on the bottom.
Picture: Replicate Orbital
And, in concept, it will erase the most important weak point of renewable power: intermittency.
We talked about the issue of intermittency earlier this yr, when Spain went darkish as a consequence of a sudden energy crash and never sufficient backup power.
However with this photo voltaic array, it will be doable to have a clear energy supply that by no means goes offline, beaming mild or power wherever on Earth, day or night time.
Naturally, critics are nervous in regards to the environmental influence of this cutting-edge expertise. There’s the danger of sunshine air pollution and orbital litter, and there are legitimate considerations in regards to the security of beaming power by way of the environment.
However suppose again to the early days of electrical energy. Individuals as soon as thought high-voltage traces had been harmful too.
But inside a technology, we constructed the safeguards that allow electrical energy change the world.
And we’re not the one nation pursuing this new expertise.
As at all times, China is racing to get there first. Its area company has introduced plans for a one-megawatt orbital photo voltaic station by 2030.
That’s sufficient to energy a small neighborhood.
Japan, a rustic that imports over 90% of its power, has plans to launch a one-gigawatt orbital photo voltaic array inside the subsequent 25 years.
And the European Area Company’s SOLARIS program initiatives that two gigawatt-class stations might ultimately energy one million properties.
So what does all this should do with Nvidia and SpaceX?
Earlier this month, Nvidia delivered its latest AI supercomputer on to Elon Musk’s group.
Picture: Nvidia
The DGX Spark is a compact AI workstation that packs about one petaflop of computing energy — sufficient to deal with AI fashions with as much as 200 billion parameters — whereas drawing solely round 1,000 watts of energy.
That’s much less power than a typical hair dryer.
However what makes the DGX Spark so exceptional isn’t simply its efficiency. It’s the place it’s getting used.
SpaceX now has the ability to coach and deploy huge AI fashions inside its personal testing amenities, with out sending information backwards and forwards to the cloud.
Which means it will probably construct programs that course of sensor information, predict upkeep points and alter flight paths in actual time straight aboard its rockets and satellites.
In brief, the DGX Spark provides SpaceX the flexibility to create spacecraft that may suppose for themselves in orbit, as a substitute of ready for directions from Earth.
This improve can be a serious increase for America’s area initiatives.
And once you pair that degree of intelligence with the promise of limitless orbital power, you’ll be able to see why these two breakthroughs are a part of the identical story.
You see, the identical satellites designed to beam energy all the way down to Earth might additionally ship it to different spacecraft, preserving AI programs just like the DGX Spark operating constantly.
Vitality feeding intelligence, and intelligence optimizing power. That’s the loop forming above us…
It’s Convergence X taking form in orbit.
Right here’s My Take
Convergence X isn’t nearly a single breakthrough.
It’s a few collection of convergences that change the construction of the economic system.
When energy technology and synthetic intelligence meet in orbit, it represents the growth of Convergence X past Earth’s factories and information facilities, and into the vacuum of area.
In fact, each of those advances are nonetheless early.
However so was the microchip when George Gilder launched it to President Reagan.
Area-based power might unlock new markets on Earth, enabling 24/7 clear grids and off-world energy for satellites, lunar bases and even asteroid mining operations.
AI supercomputers just like the DGX Spark might turn into commonplace gear in each spacecraft, operating navigation, upkeep and logistics autonomously.
When these two programs ultimately meet we might find yourself with one thing humanity has by no means seen earlier than: a self-sustaining industrial community that extends past Earth’s environment.
That’s the last word expression of Convergence X…
Not simply right here on Earth, however lots of of miles above our heads.
Regards,
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