Space-Based Data Centers and Cooling: Feasibility Analysis via Multi-Criteria and Query Search for Water-Bearing Asteroids Showing Novel Underlying Regular and Symmetric Patterns

Abstract

Space-based data centers (SBDCs) are environment-friendly and do not make use of Earth’s water resources for cooling. The cooling of SBDCs can be realized via using water aboard asteroids. The feasibility of this approach requires further consideration and has not received sufficient research attention. The study being presented investigates the existence of water-bearing asteroids whose water resources can potentially be used for cooling the server payloads aboard the SBDC. This is undertaken by executing multi-criteria search queries on the Asterank asteroid database. Data analysis shows that water can be accessed from asteroids at less than 0.26 AU by privately owned space vehicles designed for Earth-to-Mars missions. In addition, the results of data analysis show that there is a regularity and symmetric pattern among different asteroids. This arises as asteroids with different identities have the same near-Earth distance and upcoming approaches.

1. Introduction

Data centers have been recognized as having a significant water footprint [1]. This high-water footprint can be reduced by siting data centers in space. Space-based data centers enable the low-latency transfer of low-Earth-orbiting satellites. These data centers can also be cooled using water from asteroids. The discussion in [2] investigates the feasibility of using water aboard asteroids for cooling space-based data centers. This is undertaken by analyzing asteroid data from asteroid databases. An example of a suitable asteroid database is the Asterank database [3]. The information in the Asterank asteroid database has been compiled with the aim of making a case for the commercial appeal of asteroid mining [4,5].

The study and the data analysis conducted in [2] have not considered the execution of multiple criteria searches on the Asterank database. The conduction of a multi-criteria search query is helpful in obtaining data, information, and insights on the suitability of different asteroids for use in the potential mining of water to cool space-based data centers.

The study being presented focuses on identifying suitable asteroids when different criteria are considered. The suitable asteroids are those that have water and are suited for cool space-based data centers hosted in a space habitat environment. The criteria are cost-effectiveness, profitability, and upcoming approaches from 2023 onward. Accessibility by privately owned space vehicles is also considered in the analysis and identification of suitable asteroids. The motivation here is to identify the cost-effective and easily approachable asteroids that have water content and potential accessibility by privately owned space vehicles. This rationale has not been addressed in [2] but is considered in the study being presented. In addition, the presented study opines that space habitat-hosted data centers (in outer space) will be used by private cloud-computing organizations.

The Asterank database has been considered for use in the search in the proposed study. This can be found in the study presented in [6,7,8,9,10]. The discussion in Ridgway [6] recognizes the evolution of the use of data in the domain of astronomy. In this regard, the Asterank database has been identified as an example of a database suitable for providing data enabling the use of asteroid-related data for purposes involving probable commercial intents. In addition, the discussions of Jensen [7], Crawford et al. [8], Dahl et al. [9], and Pasko [10] recognize the suitability of using the data aboard the Asterank database in research. The discussion in Dahl et al. [9] notes that the Asterank database was acquired by Planetary Resources. Prior to this acquisition, the Asterank database was populated by data derived from observations conducted by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Small-Body Database and Minor Planet Center [10]. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the Minor Planet Center are recognized as leading research centers in space sciences. Hence, the use of the data found in the Asterank database for research purposes is credible.

Research Contribution:

The presented study addresses the use of non-terrestrial computing platform entities with a focus on space-based data centers. The use of the space-based data center is recognized to be beneficial because of its non-reliance on Earth’s water resources. In addition, the use of space-based data centers is environment-friendly. The use of space-based data centers hosting computing payload, i.e., servers, requires cooling. However, additional research is required to investigate the suitability of using asteroid water resourcesdue to the necessity of cooling the servers that constitute the computing payload in the space-based data center. The water aboard asteroids has been identified to be a suitable coolant for the space-based data center. However, the feasibility of using the water aboard asteroids for this purpose requires additional consideration in research. The presented study considers the search for suitable asteroids using different search conditions. Each of these conditions constitutes a criterion in a multi-criteria approach. The criteria consider factors such as cost-effectiveness, near-access date, and near-access distance.

The study proposes the use of water to cool space-based data centers. The concerned data centers are aboard space habitats. The space habitat is solar powered, has a cooling system, and processing facilities enabling the processing of water obtained from asteroids and then using this for cooling. However, the cooling process and associated processing require the availability of water from the asteroid. The study presented is set in the context of conducting analysis to identify suitable asteroids.

The presented study conducts an analysis of the upcoming approaches (future dates). The upcoming approaches and associated future dates are for asteroids that are deemed to be commercially viable and have water content. In addition, information on asteroids with upcoming passes and water-bearing status is also presented in the study and data analysis. In addition, the study also examines the feasibility of using the distance to the Earth at an upcoming approach to determine the ability of privately owned space vehicles to visit identified asteroids. This extends the research in [2] by investigating the viability of using high-profit asteroids to obtain water for cooling space-based data centers. Furthermore, the presented study examines the effectiveness of using another search approach instead of the Asterank database approach presented in [2] with regard to determining the potential of obtaining water from an asteroid.

In addition, the study being presented significantly extends the research in [2]. The research work presented in [2] focuses on how the use of space-based data centers has the capacity to reduce latency associated with data transfer. In [2], the data transfer is performed in the context of transmitting data from big data space applications (alongside satellites) to data centers for storage and processing. However, the research here significantly extends [2] by focusing on the cooling of the computing platform, i.e., space-based data center.

The investigation of the suitability of the research is conducted using the quantitative research approach. The focus is on the numerical parameters that describe the suitability of an asteroid as being capable of providing water for the intended cooling of space-based data centers. This arises because of the important role that parameters and data such as near-Earth access date, i.e., epoch, distance, and estimated profitability, play in determining the suitability of identified asteroids.

The rest of the study is organized as follows. Section 2 presents the background work. Section 3 presents data on asteroids that are deemed most profitable. In this case, the concerned asteroids have water content. It presents data and discusses information on asteroids with recently upcoming epochs of near-Earth passes of water-bearing asteroids. The estimated profit associated with each asteroid is also presented. Section 4 discusses the water-access feasibility from a space vehicle capability perspective. Section 5 is the conclusion.

2. Background and Related Work

Beitz et al., in [11], present research aims for predicting the sequence of impacts for a chondritic parent body in the Solar System. The discussion by Beitz et al. in [11] presents a model explaining the evolution of asteroids and meteoroid formation. The evolution recognizes the occurrence of impactful hyper-velocity collision as playing a key role in influencing asteroid evolution. In the discussion, it is recognized that the research in [11] identifies that certain objects, i.e., asteroids, have water. These objects are the carbonaceous chondrite groups of CI, CM, and CR. However, the discussion has not considered the prospects of asteroid mining and associated engineering applications [11].

The focus of the study by Macke et al. [12] is the compositional analysis of different asteroids. The compositional analysis is performed using non-destructive and non-contaminating methods with a quick result delivery time. The meteorite-related parameters being determined comprise the mass, bulk density, grain density, porosity, and the magnetic susceptibility. The discussion by Macke et al. [12] recognized that highly porous CC meteorites (with the Allende as an example) can absorb water from the air, leading to such meteorites having water content. The absorption of water in this case leads to an increase in the mass, bulk density, and a reduction in the grain density. The absorption of water in this case is also noted to impair magnetic susceptibility measurements. The relations between the grain density, mass, and magnetic susceptibility can potentially be used in a rule base or by an intelligent mechanism to infer water presence in an asteroid, meteorite, or similar derivative object. This makes the relations between the compositional parameters suitable for use in different applications. However, the focus in Macke et al. [12] is grouping the asteroids, meteorites, and similar objects into groups and presenting the results of procedures aimed at compositional analysis.

The study by Rotelli et al. [13] points out that carbonaceous chondrites host a high water content and organic molecules such as amino acids. The focus of the study by Roteli et al. [13] is on examining the role of carbonaceous chondrites in prebiotic chemistry and on the origin of life. The focus is on studying how the origins of life have been influenced by the composition of carbonaceous chondrites. This demonstrates a potential application of the study presented by Macke et al. in [12]. In this case, the compositional analysis results are used to determine the role of a given asteroid object in the evolution of life.

The study by Shi et al. [14] focuses on the origin of water. It also focuses on the occurrence of water in various forms in different objects in the asteroid belt and in Ceres. During the analysis regarding the occurrence of water, it is recognized that carbonaceous chondrites provide a suitable analog for Ceres. However, it is also pointed out that there is a need to analyze meteorite samples from Ceres. In this regard, the study presented by Shi et al. [14] discusses different space expeditions to Ceres. Examples of the missions identified in this regard are Project GAUSS and the NASA Dawn mission. The focus of the study presented by Shi et al. [14] focuses on analyzing the occurrence of water in different objects with a focus on Ceres (due to the unsuitability of using carbonaceous chondrites as an analog). The non-suitability of using analog is recognized to necessitate the conducting of missions to different locations in outer space. In this regard, the paper’s focus is on designing the payload for such exploratory missions. Furthermore, the study by Shi et al. [14] focuses on the payload and trajectory design for the water compositional analysis of different objects in the Solar System. However, we note that the focus has not considered how such missions can be executed by different space agencies based on the availability of resources. The focus of the study by Shi et al. [14] is on examining how lessons and insights from the GAUSS and NASA Dawn missions can be used in a similar exploration by the European Space Agency.

The role of carbonaceous chondrites being parents of water-bearing transitional asteroids is examined by Rodriguez et al. in [15]. The research in [15] focuses on analyzing the presence of water via an observation of the hydration of minerals found aboard objects in the asteroid belt. Different objects alongside their water composition are presented. The goal of the study is to analyze the effect of water via the occurrence of aqueous alteration with a goal to infer on the pattern of pre-accretionary hydration (water-acting) processes. Similar work focusing on the impact and existence of water aboard objects in the Solar System can be found in [16].

The discussion in [11,12,13,14,15] focuses on the crucial aspect of asteroid compositional analysis. The analysis of the composition of asteroids serves as an important precursor to asteroid mining. It is important to determine and evaluate that asteroids have mineral composition to justify the deployment of a space-mining application.

Yarlagadda [16] identifies that environmental and natural resource depletion make an appeal for the conducting and deployment of space mining. The emergence of space mining is identified in [16] to provide the thrust for a future space-oriented economy. In addition, the discussion identifies the need to provide platforms enabling developing economies and countries to participate in a future space-oriented economy.

The discussion in Dong et al. [17] recognizes the benefits of asteroid mining in enabling clean off-Earth extraction and use of mineral resources. The research in [17] advocates adaptive and open asteroid mining. Dong et al. [17] recognize that advances in technology have enabled the realization of engineering mining methods, methods and techniques that are designed considering asteroid heterogeneity. The high specific heat capacity of water makes it suitable for cooling. However, this aspect has not been identified in [17]. Nevertheless, this does not diminish the need to ensure the cooling of vehicles deployed in different space applications.

Santomartino et al. [18] present the concept of biomining for accessing and harnessing resources from asteroids. Asteroids are recognized as being a suitable target for accessing water resources via the conducting of space biomining. Water is recognized to occur in different locations in outer space such as select craters on the Moon, Mars, and aboard asteroids. The focus of the research in [18] is to conduct space mining with the aim of providing a habitable environment for humans in space. The biomining approach of water from asteroids is suitable for the establishment of space habitats. In this regard, the use of water that is obtained from objects in space (asteroids) can be used to produce oxygen suitable for meeting human needs.

An important exploration aspect that has not been considered in [18] is the potential for deploying more manned space applications. This arises because of the ability to transport humans in space applications. In this case, locations beyond the international space station are being considered.

Hein et al. [19] examine the techno-economic analysis of space mining. The study differs from Modi et al. [17] and Xu et al. [18] because it identifies novel roles for the use of water mined from space. In this case, water is recognized to be useful for other applications in addition to fuel generation. The discussion in [19] presents a generic application perspective for the role of water in outer space. An application perspective describing the role of water in different identified applications is useful from the point of view of the research in [19]. However, such a perspective has not been presented.

3. Data on Profitable Water-Bearing Asteroids

The information and data on asteroids having water are presented in this section. The water found aboard asteroids is used in cooling the server payload aboard space habitats. Space habitats have been used to host the server payload constituting the space-based data centers. Space habitats have been used because they have the capability to support human living in space. They provide support for protecting humans from radiation arising from space environments. Hence, they are suitable for hosting servers and computing payloads in the outer space environment. The use of friendly and radiation-resistance habitats has been found to be suitable for hosting humans, as seen in [2,20,21,22,23]. Therefore, space habitats can support servers and computing payloads in a manner that overcomes the effects and challenges arising from space weather and radiation. Furthermore, the space habitat will be powered via onboard solar panels.

Yarlagadda [16] notes that there has been a significant advance and progress in mining water from asteroids. The advances provide a thrust for the consideration of using water aboard asteroids in the proposed computing application. A similar application perspective is found in [18]. The notion in [16] and [18] is that it is technologically feasible to mine water from asteroids.

The proposed use of asteroid water for cooling space-based data centers occurs in a manner such that a space vehicle is deployed to the water-bearing asteroid. The deployed space vehicle mines water and supplies the water to the space-based data center for cooling its payload. In addition, the space habitat-based data center also incorporates a cooling subsystem whose details are like those in existing work [2].

The search query has been executed by selecting the most valuable as the search criterion in the query menu option. All the listed asteroids have estimated values and profits that exceed $100 t. The information on the asteroids and their approaches, as found in the Asterank database, is presented in

Table 1. Highly Profitable Water-Bearing Asteroids with Profits exceeding ($100 trillion).

S/N	Asteroid Name	Approach
1	511 Davida1903 LU	2005–2006
2	334 Chicago 1892 L	2004–2005
3	423 Diotima 1896 DB	Not Available
4	747 Winchester 1913 QZ	2002–2004
5	488 Kreusa 1902 JG	2005
6	566 Stereoskopia 1905 QO	2004–2006
7	2060 Chiron 1977 UB	2006
8	386 Siegena 1894 AY	2003–2005
9	654 Zelinda 1908 BM	2002–2003
10	146 Lucina	Not Available
11	444 Gyptis 1899 EL	2002–2004
12	419 Aurelia 1896 CW	2004
13	762 Pulcova 1913 SQ	2001–2003
14	356 Liguria 1893 G	2001
15	804 Hispania 1915 WT	2001
16	426 Hippo 1897 DH	2005
17	705 Ermina 1910 KV	2002
18	618 Elfriede 1906 VZ	2002–2004
19	360 Carlova 1893 N	2005–2006
20	381 Myrrha 1894 AS	2005–2006
21	772 Tanete 1913 TR	2000–2006
22	344 Desiderata 1892 M	2001–2004
23	375 Ursula 1893 AL	2001–2002
24	481 Emita 1902 HP	2003
25	490 Veritas 1902 JP	2002
26	790 Pretoria 1912 NW	2003
27	420 Bertholda 1896 CY	2003
28	748 Simeise 1913 RD	2003–2006
29	1173 Anchises 1930 UB	2001–2006
30	1180 Rita 1913 GE	2005–2006
31	1268 Libya 1930 HJ	2002–2003
32	1390 Abasement 1935 TA	2002–2005
33	1171 Rusthawelia 1930 TA	2004–2006
34	613 Ginerva 1906 VP	2003–2005
35	1754 Cunningham 1935 FE	2004–2005
36	1512 Oulu 1539 FE	Not Available
37	1266 Tone 1927 BD	2002–2004
38	746 Marlu 1913 QY	2001
39	1911 Schuubart 1973 UD	2003–2004
40	499 Venusia 1902 KX	2003–2006
41	643 Scheherezade 1907 Z2	2003–2006

.

From Table 1, there is a small number of P-type asteroids that bear more water in comparison to other elements. This inference has been reached because P-type asteroids have been deemed to comprise water in the Asterank database.

In addition, it can also be noted that the access dates for all types of asteroids concerned lie in past epochs, i.e., between the years 2001 and 2006. However, it is important to ascertain the number of asteroids with a water content that have a near-Earth pass at an upcoming epoch. The concerned data are extracted by executing a non-automated search for asteroids with future scheduled upcoming passes and later verifying their water-bearing status. The concerned asteroids are those with upcoming near-Earth status from the year 2023 and onward. The associated data in this case are presented in

Table 2. List of potential water-bearing asteroids with upcoming approaches from 2023 onwards.

Asteroid Name	Number of Near-Earth Approaches	Water-Bearing Status
2000 AX93	8 Spanning Years (2023–2187)	No
2004 FN8	2 Spanning Years 2023, 2033	Not Available
1999 CG9	>10 Spanning Years (2023–2178)	Not Available
2012 BF77	2 (2023, 2059)	Not Available
2010 TW54	>10 Spanning Years (2023–2074)	Not Available
2009 BO111	>10 Spanning Years (2023–2196)	Not Available
1992 TB	>10 Spanning Years (2023–2197)	Not Available
4486 Mithra 1987 SB	>10 Spanning Years (2023–2196)	Not Available
2014 HW	6 Spanning Years (2023–2051)	Not Available
5731 Zeus 1988 UP 4	>10 Spanning Years (2023–2194)	Not Available
9058 1992 JB	>10 Spanning Years (2023–2196)	Not Available
2011 MD	>10 Spanning Years (2023–2086)	Not Available
2011 HO5	>10 Spanning Years (2023–2142)
2008 YN2	7 Spanning Years (2023–2107)
2015 KK57	8 Spanning Years (2023–2086)
2012 TT	>10 Spanning Years (2023–2196)
2012 DM32	>10 Spanning Years (2023–2186)
3833 Calingasta 1971 SC	Not Available	Yes
2010 WD 9	9 Spanning Years (2023–2086)	Not Available
3671 Dionysus 1984 KD	10 Spanning Years (2023–2096)	Yes
2015 KK57	8 Spanning Years (2023–2086)
2012 TT	>10 Spanning Years (2023–2196)
2012 DM32	>10 Spanning Years (2023–2186)
3833 Calingasta 1971 SC	Not Available	Yes

. In accessing the information on the data presented in Table 2, it is noted that the information in the column on the asteroid type is empty for some of these asteroids. Hence, the resources aboard the listed asteroids have not been presented. Nevertheless, these asteroids are potential water-bearing asteroids. Therefore, they have been listed in the results of the data analysis. Furthermore, the data presented in Table 2 show a regular and symmetric pattern in the number of near-Earth approaches. Some of the asteroids such as 1999 CG9 and 2010 TW54 have a similar number of near-Earth approaches (exceeding 10) and near-Earth years in the years 2023–2073.

In Table 2, the information on the number of near-Earth approaches has been obtained from the Asterank database.

From the information in Table 2, up to 20 asteroids have near-access periods lying onward from the year 2023. Two of these asteroids, i.e., the 3671 Dionysus 1984 KD and 3833 Calingasta 1971 SC, are found to have water content. The passes indicated for the 3671 Dionysus 1984 KD are (1) 3 September 2023—distance of 0.483 astronomical units (AU), (2) 19 May 2059—distance of 0.316 AU, (3) 29 May 2072—distance of 0.147 AU, (4) 18 June 2085—0.028 AU, (5) 15 August 2098—0.276 AU, (6) 23 May 2134—0.264 AU, (7) 23 June 2147—0.047 AU, (8) 30 August 2160—0.376 AU, (9) 25 May 2183—0.236 AU, and (10) 22 July 2196—0.167 AU.

In Table 2, the cases where the water-bearing asteroids are indicated as being not available do not necessarily imply the non-availability of water. Asteroid characterization is deemed incomplete as the information on the asteroid type is not available in the Asterank database. In addition, the 3833 Calingasta 1971 SC and 3671 Dionysus 1984 KD that are identified to have water content have estimated profits of $2.15 t and $304.03 b, respectively.

Furthermore, the study also examines the feasibility of conducting the search using the queries ‘closest approaching’ and ‘most accessible’ and presents data on a list of water-bearing asteroids. However, these search queries have not been used. They do not directly depict the cost-effectiveness of the concerned asteroid. The data analysis also recognizes the importance of cost-effectiveness in accessing water-bearing asteroids. However, the most suitable query considered for obtaining water from asteroids is using the search for finding the most cost-effective water-bearing asteroids. The concerned search is executed by using the search query ‘most cost effective’. The names, values, and estimated profits alongside the associated profits are in

Table 3. Identity and Details of most cost-effective Asteroids.

Asteroid Name	Value ($)	Profit ($)	Upcoming Approaches
162173 Ryugu 1999 JU 3	82.76 bn	30.08 bn	>10 Spanning Years (2035–2197)
14402 1991 DB	168.2 bn	26.68 bn	>10 Spanning Years (2027–2182)
162567 2000 RW37	29.27 bn	4.53 bn	>10 Spanning Years (2032–2200)
85774 1998 UT18	644.7 bn	99.62 bn	>10 Spanning Years (2023–2167)
3288 Seleucus 1982 DV	33.5 tn	5.02 tn	10 Spanning Years (2037–2188)
152679 1998 KU 2	80.3 tn	11.95 tn	10 Spanning Years (2025–2184)
175706 1996 FG 3	1.33 tn	181.34 bn	>10 Spanning Years (2023–2192)
308635 2005 YU55	49.8 bn	6.23 bn	>10 Spanning Years (2026–2171)
283460 2001 PD 1	646.08 bn	80.77 bn	7 Spanning Years (2031–2158)
65706 1992 NA	4.55 tn	547.95 bn	9 Spanning Years (2029–2192)
2002 AV	17.79 bn	2.14 bn	6 Spanning Years (2033–2153)
3671 Dionysus 1984 KD	2.62 tn	304.03 bn	10 Spanning Years (2023–2196)
2002 AH 29	7.77 bn	892.46 mn	7 Spanning Years (2032–2167)
16064 David Harvey 1999 RH27	53.9 tn	6.14 tn	5 Spanning Years (2033–2194)
322775 2001 HA 8	1.51 tn	169.29 bn	8 Spanning Years (2038–2174)
1998 HT 31	10.42 bn	1.11 bn	Not Available
446804 1999 VN 6	62.78 bn	6.50 bn	11 Spanning Years (2031–2193)
413123 2001 XS	125.08 bn	13.16 bn	4 Spanning Years (2049–2193)
3833 Calingasta 1971 SC	20.76 tn	2.15 tn	Not Available
2001 SJ262	30.61 bn	3.04 bn	6 Spanning Years (2057–2174)
136793 1997 AQ 18	329.46 bn	28.82 bn	>10 Spanning Years (2023–2199)
85989 1999 JD 6	4.77 tn	254.7 bn	>10 Spanning Years (2023–2200)
2002 DH2	20.79 bn	1.96 bn	>10 Spanning Years (2046–2197)
11066 Sigurd 1999 CC 1	32.74 tn	2.02 tn	>10 Spanning Years (2027–2196)
1080 Orchis 1927 QB	>100 tn	>100 tn	Not Available
1991 XB	323.81 bn	29.41 bn	4 Spanning Years (2067–2169)
370061 2000 YO29	754.75 bn	31.53 bn	>10 Spanning Years (2027–2199)
4297 Eichhorn 1938 HE	38.37 tn	3.45 tn	Not Available
276049 2002 CE 26	33.39 tn	1.70 tn	10 Spanning Years (2024–2191)
1580 Betuila 1950 KA	>100 tn	6.93 tn	10 Spanning Years (2028–2194)

.

In a manner such as the data presented in Table 2, there is a similarity in the approach epochs across multiple epochs. For example, the asteroids 175706 1996 FG3, 308635 2005 YU55, and 136793 1997 AQ 18 have their near-Earth approaches exceeding 10 and spanning the years in the range 2027–2177.

In Table 3, the information on the profit in ($) has been obtained from the Asterank database. The Asterank database is a credible source of data suitable for research, as seen in [6,7,8,9,10].

The data in Table 3 present the asteroids that have water and are most cost-effective for space-mining applications. There are 26 asteroids with known upcoming approach dates. The accessed data from the Asterank asteroid database also show that the recognized asteroids have appreciable profitability and a number of upcoming approaches. The asteroids 3671 Dionysus 1984 KD and 3833 Calingasta 1971 SC identified from Table 2 are also identified to be among the most cost-effective water-bearing asteroids. Hence, the analysis, whose results are presented in Table 3, is beneficial in confirming the status of these asteroids.

4. Feasibility of Water Access Aboard Asteroids—Space Vehicle Capability Perspective

The presented study also extends [2] by evaluating the feasibility of visiting and sojourning to an asteroid by a given space vehicle. Different types of space vehicles that can be used for space mining, i.e., accessing resources aboard asteroids, are Landers [24] and Spacecraft [25]. Vehicles that can travel from Earth to Mars can be used in visiting asteroids and executing water-mining processes. The distance from Earth to Mars is given as 78,340,000 km and 0.52 astronomical units (AU). In this case, privately owned space vehicles have been considered. The use of water to cool space-based data centers is envisioned as a private sector-led industry. Examples of suitable private space vehicles are Starship Spacecraft (SpaceX) [26,27], Blue Moon (Blue Origin) [28], Boeing Starliner Spacecraft [29], and SpaceShipTwo Spacecraft [30].

The SpaceX Starship spacecraft is designed to service satellites in Earth’s orbit and execute missions to the Moon and Mars [26]. As seen in [26], the space Starship can also convey cargo exceeding 100,000 kg. It is recognized that the Blue Moon lander, Starliner spacecraft, and SpaceShipTwo spacecraft are designed for missions to the low-Earth orbit and the Moon. These are not suitable for asteroid access as the maximum distance they can travel is 0.0025 AU which is significantly less than 0.52 AU (Earth to Mars distance). Furthermore, the data in [31] show the increased focus of the private sector on Lunar-based missions.

The data showing the identification of profitable water-bearing asteroids with the access dates and corresponding distance in astronomical units are presented in

Table 4. List of most cost-effective asteroids accessible by privately owned vehicles.

S/N	Asteroid Name	Profit ($)	Access Dates and Distance
1	162173 Ryugu 1999 JU 3	30.08 b	16 October 2046	0.235 AU
			16 February 2047	0.143 AU
			6 December 2076	0.01 AU
			29 December 2101	0.058 AU
			12 November 2105	0.195 AU
2	14402 1991 DB	26.68 b	6 March 2027	0.257 AU
			24 May 2101	0.251 AU
			17 April 2110	0.197 AU
			1 April 2119	0.154 AU
			25 March 2128	0.122 AU
3	162567 2000 RW 37	4.53 b	8 March 2040	0.232 AU
			23 February 2047	0.030 AU
			16 February 2054	0.057 AU
			25 October 2060	0.238 AU
			25 January 2061	0.183 AU
4	85774 1998 UT 18	99.62 b	10 March 2097	0.248 AU
			16 January 2102	0.223 AU
			26 December 2106	0.180 AU
			18 December 2111	0.141 AU
			13 December 2116	0.115 AU
5	3288 Seleucus 1982 DV	5.02 tn	6 April 2040	0.222 AU
			8 May 2069	0.225 AU
			13 April 2101	0.158 AU
			30 April 2156	0.122 AU
6	152679 1998 KU 2	11.95 tn	31 July 2042	0.0088 AU
			18 September 2069	0.0073 AU
			28 August 2113	0.069 AU
			7 October 2140	0.241 AU
			10 July 2157	0.173 AU
			7 August 2184	0.087 AU
7	175706 1996 FG3	181.34 bn	25 November 2024	0.180 AU
			22 November 2037	0.129 AU
			5 May 2048	0.175 AU
			24 November 2050	0.056 AU
			20 April 2060	0.247 AU
8	308635 2005 YU 55	6.23 b	31 October 2036	0.121 AU
			14 April 2040	0.151 AU
			12 November 2041	0.102 AU
			25 April 2045	0.070 AU
			22 October 2070	0.194 AU
9	283460 2001 PD 1	80.77 b	12 October 2138	0.244 AU
10	65706 1992 NA	547.95 b	12 October 2092	0.178 AU
			24 October 2155	0.258 AU
11	3671 Dionysus 1984 KD	304.03 b	29 May 2072	0.147 AU
			18 June 2085	0.028 AU
			23 June 2147	0.047 AU
			25 May 2183	0.236 AU
			22 July 2196	0.167 AU
12	2002 AH 29	892.46 m	28 January 2092	0.106 AU
			19 February 2107	0.136 AU
			23 March 2167	0.248 AU
13	16064 David Harvey 1999 RH 27	6.14 t	17 December 2111	0.232 AU
14	322775 2001 HA 8	169.29 b	23 July 2071	0.200 AU
			22 June 2152	0.257 AU
			30 June 2163	0.172 AU
			28 July 2174	0.212 AU
15	136793 1997 AQ18	28.82 b	31 May 2049	0.257 AU
			14 December 2050	0.188 AU
			27 May 2065	0.255 AU
			14 December 2066	0.194 AU
16	85989 1999 JD 6	254.7 b	16 July 2025	0.243 AU
			25 July 2044	0.228 AU
			27 July 2049	0.119 AU
			25 July 2054	0.047 AU
			22 July 2059	0.110 AU
17	2002 DH 2	1.96 b	10 March 2052	0.097 AU
			17 March 2114	0.104 AU
			3 March 2117	0.255 AU
			26 March 2191	0.214 AU
			12 March 2194	0.117 AU
18	11066 Sigurd 1992 CC1	2.02 t	8 September 2027	0.124 AU
			30 August 2050	0.199 AU
			20 September 2068	0.181 AU
			9 September 2091	0.121 AU
			27 August 2114	0.244 AU
19	276049 2002 CE26	1.7 t	11 September 2024	0.179 AU
			28 August 2161	0.230 AU
			2 September 2171	0.131 AU
			5 September 2181	0.082 AU
			9 September 2191	0.093 AU
20	1580 Betuila 1950 KA	6.93 t	17 May 2129	0.242 AU
			21 May 2142	0.175 AU
			25 May 2155	0.151 AU
			26 May 2168	0.173 AU
			29 May 2181	0.238 AU

. The asteroids in Table 4 are those for which the travel distance is 0.26 AU. The distance of 0.26 AU has been considered because the suitable space vehicle is assumed to have 50% travel distance efficiency. In addition, the estimated profit of the concerned asteroids is presented. This case is performed by selecting the search criterion ‘most cost effective’.

Analyzed data in Table 4 show that certain asteroids have orbital mechanisms with symmetric patterns enabling the realization of the same access distance across different access dates. The concerned distance in this case is 0.122 AU for asteroids 14402 1991 DB (25 March 2128) and 3288 Seleucus 1982 DV (30 April 2156). This is also observed for the distance of 0.121. In this case, the asteroids demonstrating the symmetric pattern are 308635 2005 YU 55 (31 October 2036) and 11066 Sigurd 1992 CC1 (9 September 2091).

The data presented in Table 4 are an inexhaustive list of asteroids with suitable water resources. The information in Table 4 has been obtained from the Asterank database due to its suitability for the concerned research, as seen in [6,7,8,9,10]. In addition, the access dates, distance, and profit associated with each asteroid are also presented.

The data presented in Table 4 show that 20 asteroids are deemed to be cost-effective and capable of providing access to water. In addition, the near-Earth approach in all cases falls short of 0.26 AU. Therefore, the proposed approach of accessing water from asteroids for cooling space-based data centers is feasible due to the availability of water-bearing asteroids and privately owned space vehicles.

The discussion in the presented study has presented an analysis of the suitability of using water aboard asteroids to cool space-based data centers. The discussion in the study recognizes existing work showing that water is a composition of asteroids [11,12,13,14,15,31,32,33]. The focus of the study is the use of this insight on asteroid composition to evaluate the feasibility of an asteroid water-cooled space-based data center application. In this regard, a central repository such as the Asterank database has been recognized and serves as the source of the asteroid data. The Asterank database has been accessed as the main repository for accessing asteroid-related data. The analysis has focused on identifying water-bearing asteroids with high profit when mined, as seen in Table 1. The results in the case show that there are 41 suitable water-bearing asteroids. In addition, the feasibility of asteroids with future access periods from the year 2023 is also considered. In this case, 24 asteroids have been identified and are shown in Table 2. The consideration is important and has been undertaken because some asteroids have near-Earth access periods in the years prior to 2022. Further refining the list of suitable asteroids focuses on identifying the most cost-effective asteroids. In this case, the concerned asteroids are those that have water suitable for potentially cooling space-based data centers. In this case, the procedures show the list of asteroids presented in Table 3. The number of asteroids in this case also exceeds 20. Ease of access is considered as an important criterion in the results presented in Table 4. In this case, a threshold near-Earth distance is considered. This threshold distance is chosen to be 0.26 AU. This is undertaken considering the ease of access by privately owned space vehicles. The results of the analysis consider that there are advances in privately owned space vehicle capabilities. The results of the analysis, as presented in Table 1, Table 2, Table 3 and Table 4, show that there is a feasibility of asteroids that can potentially provide water for cooling space-based data centers.

5. Conclusions

Advances in computing and the need to process increasing amounts of data from deployed data-acquiring satellites necessitate the provisioning of computing assets. The use of space-based data centers enables the low-latency transfer of satellite data for storage and processing. Space-based data centers host server payloads and use water aboard asteroids for cooling. The discussion in this study presents an analysis of data on the water-bearing status of asteroids. The analysis has been conducted with the aim of investigating the suitability of asteroids as having water resources suitable for use in the cooling of the space-based data center. This was conducted while considering the near-access distances and associated dates. It is found that up to 20 water-bearing asteroids with a near-Earth distance that is less than 0.26 AU and with appreciable profitability can be found from the analysis in the Asterank database. The data are obtained from Asterank, an asteroid database developed by Planetary Resources, and which uses data from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory Small-Body Database which is driven by observation-related data from NASA. The data obtained and analyzed show that it is feasible for privately owned space vehicles to access water-bearing asteroids while executing a single trip of less than 0.26 AU. In addition, the analysis of the presented data shows that there is a symmetric pattern among different asteroids with regard to the near-access dates. In this case, the identified asteroids have the same near-Earth approach distance, signifying that there is a similarity in their orbits as they approach the Earth on their different near-Earth approach dates. The discussion in the presented study has focused on determining the feasibility of using water-bearing asteroids for cooling space-based data centers. The use of privately owned space vehicles has been identified to be crucial for accessing water-bearing asteroids. This study has identified the existence of feasible water-bearing asteroids. Future work will focus on examining how advances in privately owned space vehicles enable the realization of the proposed water-cooled space-based data centers. In addition, the design of a network architecture considers the ease for accessing the water resources aboard suitable asteroids. Furthermore, the viability of using water-bearing asteroids for the purposes of cooling space-based data centers will also be examined. This will be performed by examining evolving data found aboard asteroid resource databases such as Asterank. The study presented also invokes the need to develop technological solutions for asteroid mineralogy and mining. In this case, asteroid mineralogy involves the conducting of a search for water and the liquefaction of water for the intended cooling. In this regard, it is important to design asteroid-specific techniques capable of mining water from diverse types of water-bearing asteroids.