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7h ago

Starcloud Raises $170 Million at $1.1 Billion Valuation to Build Orbital Data Centers

The raise signals growing bets that off-planet compute will ease AI power constraints.

A message reading "AI artificial intelligence", a keyboard, and robot hands are seen in this illustration taken January 27, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
(Starcloud Photo)
An illustration of a Starcloud orbital data center, designed to power artificial intelligence workloads in space.

Overview

  • Starcloud, which announced a $170 million Series A on Monday, is now valued at $1.1 billion.
  • The company says a November 2025 mission trained an AI model on an Nvidia H100 in orbit, and the next satellite will run commercial cloud jobs including for early customer Crusoe.
  • Starcloud plans to launch Starcloud-2 later in 2026 with multiple GPUs, an AWS server blade, and a large deployable radiator to manage heat.
  • The roadmap includes Starcloud-3, a 200-kilowatt, three-ton spacecraft designed for SpaceX’s Starship, which the company aims to fly once heavy-lift launches open to commercial payloads.
  • CEO Philip Johnston says cost parity with Earth data centers depends on launch prices falling toward about $500 per kilogram by 2028 or 2029, and he reports committed contracts with other satellites plus talks on energy offtake deals with hyperscalers.