A startup seeking to move AI data centers into space has raised a further $250 million from investors, including Nvidia, as it bets that some of the world's future computing infrastructure could operate beyond Earth. Starcloud, a Washington-based company founded in 2024, announced a $250 million extension to its Series A funding round, bringing its total funding to $450 million and giving the company a valuation of $2.3 billion. The company's long-term vision is to create an orbital computing network capable of handling AI workloads and, eventually, the more demanding computing tasks that are currently handled by large data centers on Earth.
New investors include not only the AI chipmaker Nvidia but also Cisco Investments, the venture capital arm of the networking technology company Cisco. Existing backers include Benchmark and EQT. Supporters of space-based data centers argue that moving computing power into orbit could help address some concerns around AI's energy demands.
However, experts caution that orbital computing is far from a proven solution, highlighting major obstacles such as cooling. Newsweek has contacted Starcloud co-founder and CEO Philip Johnston for comment by email. Starcloud develops satellites designed to perform AI computing tasks in space rather than relying solely on earth-based data centers.
According to a company news release, Starcloud's goal is to build a fleet of 88,000 satellites that provide 20 gigawatts of orbital computing capacity. While the company hasn't translated that figure into consumer-facing terms, 20 gigawatts is broadly comparable to the output of multiple large power stations. The company is also building a 100,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Woodinville, Washington, to expand production of the satellites it hopes will eventually form a large orbital computing network.
Starcloud says it has already achieved several milestones, including flying an Nvidia H100 chip—a specialized computer chip widely used to train and run AI models such as ChatGPT—into orbit and running AI workloads in space. "Last November we put the first NVIDIA H100 in orbit," Johnston said in the company's funding announcement. "Today, this fresh capital empowers us to build the infrastructure to launch many more of NVIDIA's most advanced GPUs into space." Nvidia's participation is one reason the funding round has attracted attention.
Starcloud says it was the first company to place an Nvidia H100 graphics processing unit into orbit in November 2025. The companies are now collaborating on Nvidia's Space-1 Vera Rubin Module, a computing platform designed to withstand radiation exposure and other challenges associated with operating in space. According to Nvidia and Starcloud, the Space-1 Vera Rubin Module is specifically "built for extreme conditions in space." It's expected to provide significantly more computing power than the H100 chip that Starcloud previously flew into space.
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