I had an interesting conversation last night with a nanosatellite engineer about how much computational power is required in a nanosatellite constellation and if it's necessary.
I had an idea or a vision for an experiment with decentralized technologies like blockchain and etc. and I was asking him for some advice or opinion. My opinion is that - implementation of decentralized technologies in the computer group to share the computational power has proved itself, and first decentralized global supercomputers are being developed (see Golem Network). They are primarily used for complicated computational tasks, such as 3D rendering, machine learning etc. Applying the similar concept to a group of satellites under one platform will vastly increase the possibilities of the data processing. Peer-to-peer sharing of computational power not only increases the possibilities of data processing of the orbital equipment, but also allows more complex utilization or processing of the payload, be it the complexity of raw data processing or the direct use of A.I. during the processing or control. Constellation like this is allowing us to create completely new kind of commercial hardware/software with limitation only by our creativity.
He had a completely opposite opinion. He claimed that computational power in nanosatellite does not matter and the whole trend in nanosat development is going another way.
I'm really curious about your opinion. Looking forward to your comments. Thanks