Carrington-class solar storm could wipe out most proposed space data centers
johnseach · x · 2026-11-08
Orbital data centers proposed by Google, Starcloud and SpaceX (LEO at 500–850 km, commercial H100/Trillium chips, moderate shielding) face a triple threat from a Carrington-class solar superstorm: 10 krad radiation doses causing bit flips and silent corruption in COTS chips, atmospheric drag surges of up to 400% that risk Kessler-cascade collisions, and power/GNSS/RF blackouts. ESA simulations found no spacecraft fully safe; the author estimates fully operational capacity in dense commercial LEO fleets could fall below 30–50%.
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