Abstract: In many embodiments of the invention, a space-based data center includes orbital server modules configured to be deployed in space, each module including a communication subsystem for module-to-module communications to form a data center, tiles arranged in a planar array, where each tile has a layered structure including solar cells forming a layer across a first surface, thermal radiator panels forming a layer across a second surface, electronic components distributed laterally in a layer between the layer of solar cells and the layer of thermal radiator panels, where each electronic component receives power locally from solar cells and rejects heat to the thermal radiator panel beneath it, where a first subset of tiles are compute tiles in which the electronic components include one or more computing processors and memory, and where a second subset of tiles are support tiles in which the electronics components include network switches and energy storage.