For one thing, the systems he imagines process data relatively slowly compared to those on terra firma. They'd be constantly bombarded by radiation, and "obsolescence would be a problem" because making repairs or upgrades would be confoundingly difficult. Hajimiri believes that data centers in space could, someday, be a viable solution but hesitates to say when that day might come. "Definitely it would be doable in a few years," he said. "The question is how effective they would be, and how cost-effective they would become."