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[–] [S] 5 points 1 day ago* (2 children)

One obvious advantage is that the ambient environment is already cold. Also, there are reasons to want ultra-cold materials in space. For example, the substrate used to do quantum computing needs to stay ultra-cold, so putting quantum computers in space makes sense. https://www.uni.lu/snt-en/news/how-quantum-computing-is-transforming-space-research/

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  • [–] 3 points 20 hours ago (1 child)

    It's true that you can in a sense say that space is absurdly cold, like near absolute zero if I remember right, but it doesn't really help because there's nearly nothing in the vacuum of space to shed heat to. That was a huge criticism of recent suggestions to put data centers in space. As far as I can tell, the article doesn't even say anything about putting quantum computers in space. I think they're planning to use them to optimize some satellite problems.

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  • [–] [S] 2 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago)

    The idea is to create cryogenic electronics that operate near absolute zero with minimal power. https://www.techbriefs.com/component/content/article/54866-an-ultra-low-power-technology-expands-quantum-and-space-potential

    There are also ideas for putting quantum computers on dirigibles in the stratosphere https://discovery.kaust.edu.sa/en/article/26198/green-quantum-computing-takes-to-the-skies/

    And China has already been doing a lot of experiments with quantum communication using satellites https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_Experiments_at_Space_Scale

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