Student Research Symposium Program Portal: Submission #211
Submission information
Submission Number: 211
Submission ID: 9059
Submission UUID: b8bf57e0-7683-4b82-8a28-bf77cff2ab51
Submission URI: /student-research/symposium/research-symposium-program-portal
Submission Update: /student-research/symposium/research-symposium-program-portal?token=mNEh2yfLC4zK4-02od-7bVgf6kZtJj3UZklc7v78Beg
Created: Fri, 01/30/2026 - 11:43 AM
Completed: Fri, 01/30/2026 - 11:43 AM
Changed: Fri, 01/30/2026 - 11:43 AM
Remote IP address: 24.96.57.70
Submitted by: Anonymous
Language: English
Is draft: No
Webform: Research Symposium Program Portal WF
Submitted to: Student Research Symposium Program Portal
| Primary Student Contact First Name | Walter |
|---|---|
| Primary Student Contact Last Name | McDermott |
| Pronouns | He/Him |
| Primary Student Contact FSU Student Email | wmm23a@fsu.edu |
| Photo of all individuals presenting this work |
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| Major(s) of all individuals presenting this work | (Projected) Aerospace Engineering |
| Bio of all individuals presenting this work | My name is Walter McDermott and I attend FSUPC through The Collegiate School as a Dual Enrolled Student. My interests have always been in space and how things operate there. |
| Poster Title | Why Space is a Legitimate Option for Expanding Cloud Computing Capabilities |
| Abstract | With a growing and more complex demand for technology, the physical land mass needed for data centers will inevitably exceed safe limits. That being said, moving data centers to space is a legitimate option for this expansion to compensate for the demand. Questions about this arise from the feasibility of this task, as it is complex to carry out. The way electricity will be handled, the cost of this operation, and how communication will work between the satellites and Earth are all major setbacks associated with this operation. In the past, people have launched satellites and other forms of spacecraft into orbit, all of which communicate with Earth and have their main computational tasks done on Earth. However, with the growing demand for computers, these satellites will need to have their own computer power capable of tackling the complex data that is handled in ground data centers. The goal for this research is to uncover the costs and general feasibility of this topic. The collected data will consist of reported quantitative and qualitative analyses of different companies that are doing similar things, such as Starlink. In addition, consumer reports regarding these companies will be considered. The significance of my findings is that companies will be presented with concrete evidence as to why and how space industrialization is a viable option for the expansion of their business. |
| Research Mentor Name | Madisyn Flammia |
| Research Mentor's College (or High School) | The Collegiate School |
| Research Mentor's Department (or Subject) | Research |
| Research Mentor's Email | mjf24@fsu.edu |
| Additional Research Mentor(s) | |
| Co-presenter(s) | |
| Keywords | Space, Ai, Cloud Computing, Industrialization |
| Poster Session/Number | |
| Work | Exploratory (the research question has been identified and design of approach is outlined) |
| Presentation Modality | Face to Face Poster session |
| Poster PDF | |
| Poster Thumbnail | |
| I will be printing my poster | No |
| Year | 2026 |
| Annual description | 5th annual Undergraduate Research Symposium, April 17, 2025 |
| Update URL | https://pc.fsu.edu/student-research/symposium/research-symposium-program-portal?element_parents=elements/student_photo&ajax_form=1&_wrapper_format=drupal_ajax&token=mNEh2yfLC4zK4-02od-7bVgf6kZtJj3UZklc7v78Beg |