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Starcloud, a company in Redmond, Washington, plans to launch a satellite carrying an NVIDIA H100 chip next month. The satellite, called Starcloud-1, will fly on a SpaceX Falcon 9 from California. The mission will test whether data centers can operate in orbit instead of on the ground. Starcloud says the goal is to cut pollution and energy waste tied to large computing centers.
Starcloud-1 is about the size of a household refrigerator and weighs about 130 pounds. It will enter low Earth orbit and run on solar power. Starcloud used to operate under the name Lumen Orbit. The company works with Crusoe, which provides cloud services for businesses.
Starcloud argues that data centers on Earth use huge amounts of electricity each year. Many countries rely on fossil fuels to feed their power grids. These centers also use water to cool server rooms and release heat into nearby areas. The company says Orbit removes those problems. The satellite will collect direct sunlight without clouds blocking the rays. Cooling will come from heat leaving into space.
At the center of the system is the NVIDIA H100. It is much faster than any chip that has run in orbit before. Starcloud says it can process satellite images for weather, farming, and disaster tracking. It will also run Google’s Gemma model. This will be the largest language model ever tested in space.
By processing data in orbit, Starcloud hopes to shorten the time needed for analysts to make decisions. Most satellites send raw images to Earth first. Engineers then wait for computers on the ground to study the data. Starcloud-1 aims to do that work without the delay.
The satellite will follow the line where daytime meets night to keep its solar panels in nearly constant sunlight. Engineers tested the hardware to survive strong vibrations during liftoff. They also added shields to protect the chip from high-energy particles, which can damage electronics.
Starcloud says earlier experiments used small computers on the International Space Station. Those systems handled limited processing. Starcloud-1 will provide far more power.
If the flight succeeds, Starcloud plans a second satellite with more processing units. The company also has a long-term plan for a larger station that could support NVIDIA’s next generation of Blackwell chips. CEO Philip Johnston says lower launch prices make those plans more realistic.
Starcloud believes faster processing in orbit could improve weather warnings, farming tools, and climate research. It also argues that space-based computing could lower stress on power grids. The company sees the launch as a step toward moving some digital services off the planet.
Source: A supercomputer chip going to space could change life on Earth
