This analysis breaks down the hidden thermal bottleneck in orbital compute satellites, showing how targeted improvements in radiator temperature, two-sided deployable architecture, and areal density allow cooling mass to remain nearly flat even as waste heat jumps 7× from today's Starlink levels. The result is a credible path to ~100 kW/ton power density, proving that thermal rejection is not a physics barrier but an engineering and manufacturing opportunity waiting to be industrialized at scale.

A focused breakdown of the five key solar array parameters, and which ones could improve dramatically for orbital compute satellites in sun-synchronous orbit.