{"id":4309,"date":"2025-10-15T14:44:36","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T14:44:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/salarydistribution.com\/machine-learning\/2025\/10\/15\/how-starcloud-is-bringing-data-centers-to-outer-space\/"},"modified":"2025-10-15T14:44:36","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T14:44:36","slug":"how-starcloud-is-bringing-data-centers-to-outer-space","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/salarydistribution.com\/machine-learning\/2025\/10\/15\/how-starcloud-is-bringing-data-centers-to-outer-space\/","title":{"rendered":"How Starcloud Is Bringing Data Centers to Outer Space"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p><!-- OneTrust Cookies Consent Notice start for nvidia.com --><\/p>\n<p><!-- OneTrust Cookies Consent Notice end for nvidia.com --><\/p>\n<p>\t<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v26.1.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ --><br \/>\n\t<title>How Starcloud Is Bringing Data Centers to Outer Space | NVIDIA Blog<\/title><\/p>\n<p>\t<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. --><\/p>\n<p><!-- Stream WordPress user activity plugin v4.1.1 --><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<!-- Hotjar Tracking Code for NVIDIA --><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nvidia.com\/content\/dam\/1x1-00000000.png\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" alt=\"country_code\"><\/p>\n<div id=\"page\" class=\"hfeed site\">\n\t<a class=\"skip-link screen-reader-text\" href=\"#content\">Skip to content<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t<!-- #masthead --><\/p>\n<div class=\"full-width-layout light\">\n<div class=\"full-width-layout__hero light\">\n<div class=\"full-width-layout__hero-content light\">\n<div class=\"full-width-layout__hero-content__inner light\">\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\tThe NVIDIA Inception startup projects that space-based data centers will offer 10x lower energy costs and reduce the need for energy consumption on Earth.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\n\t\t<video class=\"full-width-layout__hero-video js-responsive-video\" autoplay muted loop playsinline data-sources='{\"desktop\":[{\"src\":\"https:\/\/blogs.nvidia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Starcloud_Featured_2560-x-1440.mp4\",\"type\":\"video\/mp4\"},{\"src\":\"https:\/\/blogs.nvidia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Starcloud_Featured_2560-x-1440.webm\",\"type\":\"video\/webm\"}],\"tablet\":[{\"src\":\"https:\/\/blogs.nvidia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Starcloud_Featured_1280-x-720.mp4\",\"type\":\"video\/mp4\"},{\"src\":\"https:\/\/blogs.nvidia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Starcloud_Featured_1280-x-720.webm\",\"type\":\"video\/webm\"}],\"mobile\":[{\"src\":\"https:\/\/blogs.nvidia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Starcloud_Featured_768-x-432.mp4\",\"type\":\"video\/mp4\"},{\"src\":\"https:\/\/blogs.nvidia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Starcloud_Featured_768-x-432.webm\",\"type\":\"video\/webm\"}]}'>Your browser does not support the video tag.<\/video>\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"full-width-layout__sections\">\n<div class=\"full-width-layout__article-copy-section light\">\n<div class=\"full-width-layout__copy\">\n<p>Extraterrestrial data centers are just on the horizon. Soon, an AI-equipped satellite from Starcloud, a member of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nvidia.com\/startups\/?nvid=nv-int-tblg-295718-vt33\">NVIDIA Inception<\/a> program for startups, will orbit the Earth.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a large step toward the startup\u2019s ultimate goal to bring state-of-the-art data centers to outer space. This can be a part of the solution to address challenges faced by rising AI demands, including energy consumption and cooling requirements for data centers on Earth.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"full-width-layout__full-width-video-section\">\n\t\t\t<video class=\"full-width-layout__video\" autoplay muted loop playsinline><\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support HTML5 video.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t<\/video><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"full-width-layout__media-caption-callout\"><br \/>\n\t\t\tStarcloud plans to build a 5-gigawatt orbital data center with super-large solar and cooling panels approximately 4 kilometers in width and length. Video courtesy of Starcloud.\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"full-width-layout__article-copy-section light\">\n<div class=\"full-width-layout__copy\">\n<p>\u201cIn space, you get almost unlimited, low-cost renewable energy,\u201d said Philip Johnston, cofounder and CEO of the startup, which is based in Redmond, Washington. \u201cThe only cost on the environment will be on the launch, then there will be 10x carbon-dioxide savings over the life of the data center compared with powering the data center terrestrially on Earth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Starcloud\u2019s upcoming satellite launch, planned for November, will mark the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nvidia.com\/en-us\/data-center\/h100\/\">NVIDIA H100 GPU\u2019s<\/a> cosmic debut \u2014 and the first time a state-of-the-art, data center-class GPU is in outer space.<\/p>\n<p>The 60-kilogram Starcloud-1 satellite, about the size of a small fridge, is expected to offer 100x more powerful GPU compute than any previous space-based operation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"full-width-layout__standard-video-section\">\n\t<video class=\"full-width-layout__video js-responsive-video\" autoplay muted loop playsinline data-sources='{\"mobile\":[{\"src\":\"https:\/\/blogs.nvidia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/starcloud-satellite-opened.mp4\",\"type\":\"video\/mp4\"}],\"tablet\":[{\"src\":\"https:\/\/blogs.nvidia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/starcloud-satellite-opened.mp4\",\"type\":\"video\/mp4\"}],\"desktop\":[{\"src\":\"https:\/\/blogs.nvidia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/starcloud-satellite-opened.mp4\",\"type\":\"video\/mp4\"}]}'>Your browser does not support the video tag.<\/video><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"full-width-layout__media-caption-callout\"><br \/>\n\t\t\tAn engineer inspects the Starcloud-1 satellite planned for launch in November. The silver module inside the satellite houses the NVIDIA H100 GPU. Video courtesy of Starcloud.\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"full-width-layout__article-copy-section light\">\n<h2 class=\"full-width-layout__heading\">How Data Centers in Space Can Increase Sustainability<\/h2>\n<div class=\"full-width-layout__copy\">\n<p>Instead of relying on fresh water for cooling through evaporation towers, as many Earth-based data centers do, Starcloud\u2019s space-based data centers can use the vacuum of deep space as an infinite heat sink.<\/p>\n<p>Emitting waste heat from infrared radiation into space can conserve significant water resources on Earth, since water isn\u2019t needed for cooling. Constant exposure to the sun in orbit also means nearly infinite solar power \u2014 aka no need for the data centers to rely on batteries or backup power.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"full-width-layout__narrow-video-section\">\n\t\t\t<video class=\"full-width-layout__video\" autoplay muted loop playsinline><\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support HTML5 video.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t<\/video><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"full-width-layout__media-caption-callout\"><br \/>\n\t\t\tOne of the solar panels on the Starcloud-1 satellite launching in November. Video courtesy of Starcloud.\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"full-width-layout__article-copy-section light\">\n<div class=\"full-width-layout__copy\">\n<p>Starcloud projects the energy costs in space to be 10x cheaper than land-based options, even including launch expenses. \u201cIn 10 years, nearly all new data centers will be being built in outer space,\u201d Johnston predicts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"full-width-layout__standard-image-section\">\n\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"2048\" height=\"819\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.nvidia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/starcloud-johnston-quote-pulled-scaled.jpg\" class=\"full-width-layout__image\" alt=\"\u201cIn 10 years, nearly all new data centers will be being built in outer space,\u201d said Philip Johnston, cofounder and CEO of Starcloud.\" loading=\"lazy\">\n\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"full-width-layout__article-copy-section light\">\n<h2 class=\"full-width-layout__heading\">Applications for Space-Based Data Centers<\/h2>\n<div class=\"full-width-layout__copy\">\n<p>An early use case for extraterrestrial data centers is the analysis of Earth observation data, which could inform applications for detecting crop types and predicting local weather.<\/p>\n<p>Plus, real-time data processing in space offers immense benefits for critical applications such as wildfire detection and distress-signal response. Running <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nvidia.com\/en-us\/glossary\/ai-inference\/\">inference<\/a> in space, right where the data\u2019s collected, allows insights to be delivered nearly instantaneously, reducing response times from hours to minutes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"full-width-layout__full-width-image-section\">\n\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.nvidia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/starcloud-orbital-line.jpeg\" class=\"full-width-layout__image\" alt=\"A rendering of Starcloud\u2019s satellite orbiting the terminator line \u2014 the line between night and day.\" loading=\"lazy\">\t<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"full-width-layout__media-caption-callout\"><br \/>\n\t\t\tA rendering of Starcloud\u2019s satellite orbiting the terminator line \u2014 the line between night and day. Image courtesy of Starcloud.\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"full-width-layout__article-copy-section light\">\n<div class=\"full-width-layout__copy\">\n<p>Earth observation methods include optical imaging with cameras, hyperspectral imaging using light wavelengths beyond human vision and synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) imaging to build high-resolution, 3D maps of Earth.<\/p>\n<p>SAR, in particular, generates lots of data \u2014 about 10 gigabytes per second, according to Johnston \u2014 so in-space inference would be especially beneficial when creating these maps.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStarcloud needs to be competitive with the type of workload you can run on an Earth-based data center, and NVIDIA GPUs are the most performant in terms of training, fine-tuning and inference,\u201d Johnston said, explaining why the company chose to use NVIDIA accelerated computing on its upcoming satellite launch.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"full-width-layout__narrow-video-section\">\n\t\t\t<video class=\"full-width-layout__video\" autoplay muted loop playsinline><\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support HTML5 video.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t<\/video><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"full-width-layout__media-caption-callout\"><br \/>\n\t\t\tStarcloud cofounder and CEO Philip Johnston examines the star tracker, used for orienting the satellite. Video courtesy of Starcloud. \t\t<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"full-width-layout__article-copy-section light\">\n<div class=\"full-width-layout__copy\">\n<p>\u201cBeing a part of NVIDIA Inception has been critical, as it provided us with technical support, access to NVIDIA experts and NVIDIA GPUs,\u201d Johnston added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"full-width-layout__standard-image-section\">\n\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1243\" height=\"1048\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.nvidia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/starcloud-team.jpg\" class=\"full-width-layout__image\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\">\t<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"full-width-layout__media-caption-callout\"><br \/>\n\t\t\tStarcloud team including engineers as well as cofounders Ezra Feilden, Philip Johnston and Adi Oltean. Image courtesy of Starcloud.\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><!-- #colophon --><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- #page --><\/p>\n<p><!-- #has-highlight-and-share -->\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>https:\/\/blogs.nvidia.com\/blog\/starcloud\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":4310,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/salarydistribution.com\/machine-learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4309"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/salarydistribution.com\/machine-learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/salarydistribution.com\/machine-learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salarydistribution.com\/machine-learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4309"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/salarydistribution.com\/machine-learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4309\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salarydistribution.com\/machine-learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/salarydistribution.com\/machine-learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salarydistribution.com\/machine-learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salarydistribution.com\/machine-learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}