Comment by zactato
8 hours ago
I think one of the reasons for putting these in space is to move them beyond the borders of any national control.
8 hours ago
I think one of the reasons for putting these in space is to move them beyond the borders of any national control.
As long as the company has a HQ and owners that care about their quality of life, they don’t really gain any extra safety by moving their hardware to space compared to keeping it where they are based.
You can't launch from the US without the federal government giving you permission. And SpaceX does not have (nor are they planning) any launch pads outside the US. [And because of ITAR, I'm not even sure they'd be allowed to build one.]
However, I do think avoiding local control (state/city permits) is a reason for this.
Rocket Lab has launch pads in New Zealand.
> (nor are they planning)
Not true
Surely if this were the reason, you'd just put it in international waters?
What does it matter where physically computers are located? If the owners can be imprisoned in US, the will cooperate with US government.