August 7, 2026 Quick space links
Since BtB’s stringer Jay is unavailable due to work, there won’t be many links today, other than what I scrap up. I do invite my readers to send me suggestions however.
This post is also an open thread. I welcome my readers to post any comments or additional links relating to any space issues, even if unrelated to the link below.
- Natural gas, AI, and the industrial boom nobody wants to talk about
This story makes no direct mention of space, but it tells a story parallel to the boom now taking place in the U.S. space industry, with both booms closely linked.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Musk hints that Terafab aims to build FEL (Free-Electron Laser) for EUV (Extreme Ultraviolet) lithography. That’s used for advanced chip production and might make Terafab independent from the (almost 100%) market leader ASML.
https://x.com/elonmusk/status/2085508463740760308
He expects that 25% of the chips will go to Optimus, 75% are for Space AI.
That is good news–those same lasers could be used for propulsion
https://phys.org/news/2026-08-technology-star.html
The Starshot guy yanked the rug out out from them.
Perhaps they could cut into Starship 40 and put in an inflatable device to force water out.
Zuckerberg’s just started building a data centre just north of the city of Edmonton, Alberta. It’s located in a cooler climate plus water and natural gas is close by.
As expected, it’s been met with opposition near the site, with one protest taking place earlier this week. Many of the protesters were the “eat the rich” types with some mewling and puking by the “climate change” crowd. This was simply an occasion for them to push their communist doctrine.
If, say, Neville Roy Singham had been the one building that facility and the AI capabilities were used to make sure we “will own nothing” and we “will be happy”, I’m sure they’d be cheering the construction.
These are the same type of people who want to arrest Elon Musk for being a trillionaire. Since the share price of SpaceX has pulled back, as expected, I’m sure that edict has been withdrawn. However, since he’s back to being a billionaire, they’ll still want to apprehend him because he still has too much money.
I’ve noted that every one of the anti-data center activists depends to one degree or another, on ‘The Cloud’. It is lack of self-awareness writ large.
As far as the massive spending on compute goes, how is it that China is seen as such a threat to American AI companies? Yes, China is stealing as much of the American training data it can get its hands on. But an AI model is nothing without the giant server farms that cost $billions to build and operate. And only the giant tech companies have the resources and customer demand needed to provide the compute.
Because China can also support activists and politicians engaging in lawfare against American companies, and it does.
Bezos and gas
https://techxplore.com/news/2026-08-amazon-massive-private-gas-centers.html
On oil and gas transport
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=s4NsDkqXkJk&ra=m
I very much doubt that AI is going to change the world in the way the big tech companies are planning upon… And I consider the Billions pumped into data centers a waste of money… However it’s not my money… I have no dog in this race… Go for your lives guys.
I do however have a bit of boots on the ground reporting. I live very close to Sweden’s largest lake. There is a large dairy also very close, which employes hundreds of people… I don’t know how long they have been doing it, ( at least the 25 years I have lived here ) but they use the lake water to help with the cooling… Apparently it saves them an awful lot of money, the fishing is excellent where the warmer water flows out, and I’ve never heard anyone anywhere complain about environmental issues…
I am absolutely not convinced regarding data centers… And they certainly have issues… But water use is not one of them. They don’t eat the water, they warm it up a little..
Lefty panic stuff… Perhaps this time you guys are right!
I expect AI to change the world rather profoundly, but only somewhat in the ways the “tech bros” seem to think it will. The biggest changes will, I suspect, take place after I’m no longer around to see and benefit from them. Something for my offspring to benefit from. AI is going to be right up there with semiconductors as a seminal technology with near-infinite use cases.
The Left’s attempts to whip up a new NIMBY firestorm over data centers will be a flash in the pan. First, as you note, the environmental impact of AI data centers, terrestrially, will be minimal. Most such projects are already planning to build out their own electricity supplies and to use non-traditional water sources. But the biggest reason there will be little long term impact, terrestrially, is that most future AI compute capacity will be deployed in space.