Starcloud
Philip Johnston
Data verified as of Aug 18, 2026
Summary
Starcloud is building data centers in orbit, and it is the only company that has actually run a data-center-class GPU in space rather than rendering one. Starcloud-1, a 60 kg satellite carrying an Nvidia H100, launched November 2, 2025 on SpaceX's Bandwagon-4 rideshare and by December had run Google's Gemma model and trained a small language model in orbit, both firsts. Founded in January 2024 as Lumen Orbit by Philip Johnston, Ezra Feilden, and Adi Oltean, renamed in March 2025 and now based in Redmond, Washington, it raised a $170 million Series A on March 30, 2026 led by Benchmark and EQT Ventures at a $1.1 billion valuation, the fastest a Y Combinator company has reached unicorn status at 17 months from demo day. The pitch is that solar power above the atmosphere and radiative cooling in vacuum beat grid power and water cooling on the ground once launch is cheap enough, and the company has filed with the FCC for a constellation of up to 88,000 orbital data-center satellites. The catch is that the economics only close at roughly $500 per kilogram to orbit, which Johnston expects around 2028 to 2029 with frequent Starship flights, so everything before then is a demonstration business funded by hosted compute for other spacecraft.
Main Products
The demonstration satellite that made the case. A 60 kg spacecraft on Astro Digital's Corvus-Micro bus carrying the first data-center-class Nvidia H100 GPU to operate in space, launched November 2, 2025 on SpaceX's Bandwagon-4 rideshare. Within weeks it had run Google's Gemma model and trained nanoGPT in orbit, and it now runs inference on Capella Space radar data. One Nvidia A6000 GPU aboard failed during launch.
In orbit and operating since November 2025, running AI workloads and customer Earth-observation data.
The first commercial mission, targeted for launch in October 2026. It carries multiple GPUs including an Nvidia Blackwell B200, an AWS server blade, and bitcoin mining ASICs, behind what Starcloud says will be the largest deployable radiator ever flown on a private satellite. Waste heat, not power, is the binding constraint on dense orbital compute, which is why the radiator is the headline part. The company describes it as roughly 100 times the power generation of Starcloud-1, with reporting putting the array around 7 kW, and plans full operation in a sun-synchronous orbit with a solar capacity factor above 95%.
Targeted for an October 2026 launch, with full commercial operation in sun-synchronous orbit expected in 2027. At least two additional Starcloud-2 class satellites are planned.
The design that is supposed to make orbital data centers cheaper than terrestrial ones: a 200 kW, roughly three-tonne spacecraft sized to fit the dispenser SpaceX built for launching Starlink satellites from Starship. Starcloud projects electricity costs near $0.05 per kilowatt-hour from it, but only if commercial Starship launch reaches roughly $500 per kilogram, which the company expects around 2028 to 2029.
In design. Gated on commercial Starship availability rather than on Starcloud's own hardware.
What's Next
Launch Starcloud-2, the first commercial orbital data center
Starcloud-2 is the mission that has to turn a demonstration into a business: multiple GPUs including an Nvidia Blackwell B200, an AWS server blade, bitcoin mining ASICs, and the largest deployable radiator the company says has ever flown on a private satellite. It is the first test of whether Starcloud can dissipate the waste heat that dense compute generates in vacuum, which is the engineering problem that decides whether any of the larger designs are possible.
Sell GPU capacity from orbit through Crusoe Cloud
Crusoe will deploy Crusoe Cloud on a Starcloud satellite and plans to offer limited GPU capacity to customers from early 2027, which would make it the first cloud operator selling compute from space. This is the first revenue that comes from general cloud demand rather than from Earth-observation operators paying to have their own data processed in orbit.
Bring Starcloud-2 to full commercial operation in sun-synchronous orbit
The company targets full operation in 2027, in a sun-synchronous orbit that keeps the arrays in sunlight more than 95% of the time so the GPU cluster can run continuously rather than duty-cycled the way Starcloud-1 does. Persistent storage and 24/7 access are what would let it serve terrestrial customers rather than only other spacecraft.
Build Starcloud-3, the 200 kW Starship-class node
The 200 kW, three-tonne Starcloud-3 is designed around Starship's Starlink dispenser and is the first design Starcloud claims could beat terrestrial data centers on energy cost, at roughly $0.05 per kWh. It is gated entirely on someone else's vehicle: the math needs commercial Starship launch at about $500 per kilogram, which Johnston expects in 2028 to 2029, not 2027.
Operations & Revenue
One satellite in orbit and operating. Starcloud-1 has been running AI workloads on an Nvidia H100 since November 2025, including inference on Capella Space radar data for a paying Earth-observation customer. Satellite integration happens at a facility in Redmond, Washington, with the company planning a move to a larger Woodinville site and headcount growing from 13 at the Series A toward roughly 50 by the end of 2026. Starcloud-2, the first commercial mission, is targeted for an October 2026 launch.
Revenue Streams
Hosted Compute for Spacecraft Operators
The near-term business: processing data in orbit for other satellites instead of downlinking it. Starcloud-1 runs inference on Capella Space synthetic-aperture radar imagery, and the company says it holds committed contracts with Earth-observation operators. This is the revenue that exists before launch costs fall.
Cloud Capacity Through Platform Partners
Crusoe will deploy Crusoe Cloud on a Starcloud satellite and offer limited GPU capacity from orbit starting in early 2027, making Starcloud a capacity supplier rather than the customer-facing cloud. Nvidia, AWS, and Google Cloud are named strategic partners, with an AWS server blade flying on Starcloud-2.
Key Metrics
Employees
13 at the March 2026 Series A, with the company targeting roughly 50 by the end of 2026
Est. Annual Revenue
Pre-commercial. Starcloud had no publicly disclosed revenue as of mid-2026, and Starcloud-2 is described as its first commercial mission, with Crusoe selling limited GPU capacity from early 2027. The company has told investors it expects Starcloud-2 to generate more cash than it costs to build and launch, which is a projection rather than a booked result.
GPUs Flown
One Nvidia H100 on Starcloud-1, the first data-center-class GPU operated in space and roughly 100x the GPU compute previously flown
Orbital Firsts
First to run a Gemma model in space and first to train a language model in orbit, both December 2025
Timeline
On March 13, 2026 the FCC accepts for filing Starcloud's application to operate as many as 88,000 satellites across a range of low Earth orbits as orbital data centers. Like SpaceX's rival filing for up to one million compute satellites, the design leans on optical intersatellite links to broadband constellations such as Starlink, Amazon Leo, and Blue Origin's Tera Wave rather than its own ground network.
Starcloud closes a $170 million Series A on March 30, 2026 led by Benchmark and co-led by EQT Ventures at a $1.1 billion valuation, taking total funding to roughly $200 million. It is the fastest a Y Combinator company has reached a billion-dollar valuation, 17 months after demo day. Backers across the cap table include In-Q-Tel, Nvidia, Macquarie Capital, NFX, and Y Combinator, plus angels including former Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg and retired US Air Force General Stephen Wilson.
Announced October 22, 2025, Crusoe agrees to deploy its Crusoe Cloud platform on a Starcloud satellite, making it the first cloud provider to offer capacity from orbit. The deployment is planned for late 2026 with limited GPU capacity sold to customers from early 2027.
A Falcon 9 lifts off from Cape Canaveral at 1:09 a.m. ET on November 2, 2025 on the Bandwagon-4 rideshare, deploying Starcloud-1 among 18 payloads. The 60 kg satellite, roughly the size of a mini fridge and built on Astro Digital's Corvus-Micro bus, carries the first data-center-class Nvidia H100 GPU ever operated in space, about 100 times the GPU compute previously flown. Contact is established after separation and the spacecraft enters nominal operations.
In December 2025 Starcloud becomes the first to run a version of Google's Gemma model on a GPU in space and the first to train a language model in orbit, using Andrej Karpathy's nanoGPT. The satellite also begins running inference on Capella Space synthetic-aperture radar data, the use case that turns orbital compute into a service other spacecraft can buy.
Philip Johnston (ex-McKinsey, where he worked with national space agencies), Ezra Feilden (ex-Airbus Defence and Space), and Adi Oltean (ex-SpaceX and Microsoft) found the company in January 2024 in El Segundo, California, then move to Redmond, Washington in February to be near the region's space and cloud infrastructure talent. It goes through Y Combinator's Summer 2024 batch and raises roughly $10 million in seed funding.
Funding
Cumulative disclosed raise · dated rounds
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