Caltech and startup Sophia Space have patented a modular chip cooling system called Sophia TILE designed for orbital data centers. Each tile integrates solar cells, processors, memory, thermal insulation, and optical communication into a single unit, using infrared radiation to dump heat directly into deep space rather than relying on bulky separate radiators. Thousands of tiles could link together to form large computing arrays in orbit, launching compactly and unfolding once in space. A demonstration mission is targeted for late 2027, with a 2,000-tile array capable of delivering up to one megawatt of computing power by 2030. The project is part of a broader international race toward orbital computing, with competitors including China's ADA Space, SpaceX, Starcloud, and Blue Origin. Key challenges remain: space debris collision risk, astronomical interference from large satellite constellations, and the fact that even a megawatt-scale orbital array is dwarfed by ground-based data centers delivering hundreds of megawatts.
