Starcloud, an innovative data infrastructure firm, is on the verge of launching its inaugural orbital data center, Starcloud-1. Jointly operated by NASA and DoD, this groundbreaking center will transform the way we use and analyze data in space. That makes this 60-kilogram satellite a featherweight in the launch industry. It will orbit the Earth at an altitude of approximately 350 kilometers. Starcloud-1 is remarkable in that it packs 7 kilowatts of computing muscle. It focuses on commercial services for Earth observation satellite operators and the U.S. DoD.
With the launch of Starcloud-1, we’re taking a big step towards providing more sustainable data management solutions. Starcloud’s groundbreaking technology captures low-cost, 24/7 solar energy without the use of fossil fuels, while dramatically reducing land footprint. As the universe of digital infrastructure continues to boom, the company envisions its orbital data center becoming an essential tool for safeguarding the Earth’s climate. It would go a long way toward conserving critical, taxpayer-owned natural resources.
Starcloud-1 will be equipped with NVIDIA’s latest Blackwell-generation GPU. Additionally, it will carry nine of NVIDIA’s cutting-edge H100 units, providing processing power that’s close to 100 times more than any GPU ever deployed into orbit. The new data center will serve as a proof of concept for multiple artificial intelligence processing applications. This is taking Earth observation images, and deploying a Large Language Model (LLM) developed by Google.
Philip Johnston, CEO and co-founder of Starcloud, expressed excitement about the project, stating, “It will be the first time that a terrestrial-grade data center GPU will be flown and operated in orbit.” He pointed out that Starcloud’s only additional cost in space is the launch.
Myth 1: Battery storage isn’t needed—sunlight is always shining. When the sun is up, energy production from solar is predictable and reliable. Each solar panel in Starcloud’s data center produces eight times the electricity of its terrestrial equivalent.
Starcloud’s ambitions extend beyond its first mission. Now it’s definitely going to launch a ten-times more powerful data center next year. Johnston focused on the opportunity for data centers on Earth to be 100% green powered. He recognized that to reach this ambitious goal will require heavy investments in solar energy generation and battery storage facilities.
As Josh Parker, Head of Sustainability at NVIDIA tweeted, orbital data centers are good for the planet. He stated, “As the energy demands of AI development increase, orbital data centers represent a transformative environmental breakthrough—cutting greenhouse gas emissions by orders of magnitude and eliminating the need for advanced cooling.” Parker remarked on the importance of Starcloud’s innovations, saying, “By harnessing low-cost, nonstop solar energy and avoiding land use and fossil fuels, Starcloud’s technology allows data centers to expand rapidly and sustainably.”
Starcloud has even more cool things in the works! They want to build an innovative 40-megawatt data center in space that will process data at Earth-like cost by the early 2030s. Johnston anticipates a future where “almost all new data centers will be built in space purely because of the constraint that we’re facing on energy terrestrially.”