Crypto09 March, 20262 min read
Nvidia Backed Starcloud Plans To Mine Bitcoin From Orbit Later This Year
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Starcloud plans to deploy satellites with ASIC miners to mine Bitcoin in low Earth orbit. Nvidia backs Starcloud and the company has run an Nvidia H100 GPU successfully in orbit.
Starcloud orbital mining plans
Nvidia-backed Starcloud has announced plans to mine Bitcoin from orbit, saying it will place bitcoin-mining ASICs on its second spacecraft and aiming to be the first company to mine Bitcoin off Earth.
“Starcloud, an Nvidia-backed orbital data-center startup, says it will begin mining Bitcoin from space later this year when its second spacecraft launches, aiming to be the first company to mine Bitcoin off Earth.”
Multiple reports describe the move as part of Starcloud's broader push to build orbital data centers and to deploy satellites as cloud-compute platforms rather than solely for traditional space services.
Starcloud spacemining rationale
Starcloud and its CEO justify spacemining on technical and efficiency grounds. They say orbital platforms can access near-continuous solar energy and very low ambient temperatures for heat dissipation.
Starcloud notes that ASIC Bitcoin miners are substantially cheaper per watt than GPUs. Company statements and coverage stress the scale of terrestrial Bitcoin energy use — roughly 20 GW — which Starcloud’s CEO has argued “makes no sense” on Earth and motivates moving some mining capacity to space.
Starcloud orbital plans
Starcloud’s ambitions extend beyond a single satellite, with filings and reporting pointing to an eventual large constellation of orbital data centers. Some reports cite an extraordinarily large proposed constellation of up to 88,000 satellites. The company has reportedly sought regulatory engagement with the FCC for large-scale orbital deployments and frames spacemining as part of a broader industry push to meet surging compute and energy demands.
“The startup — which launched a Starcloud-1 satellite equipped with an Nvidia H100 that reportedly ran a small AI model in space — has proposed a massive constellation (reports say up to 88,000 satellites) that could host cloud compute and some crypto mining capacity.”
Challenges of space-based computing
The plan is explicitly experimental and faces acknowledged hurdles. Coverage and analysts highlight extremely high launch and hardware-protection costs.
They also highlight the need for cosmic-radiation hardening and limited onsite repair or upgrades. Sources say the broader technical and economic difficulty of operating compute in space makes practical, large-scale deployment years away.
Starcloud launch updates
Reporting notes Nvidia support. A prior Starcloud-1 launch carried an Nvidia H100 that reportedly ran a small AI model. Partnerships are mentioned, including RKLB launches.
“The startup — which launched a Starcloud-1 satellite equipped with an Nvidia H100 that reportedly ran a small AI model in space — has proposed a massive constellation (reports say up to 88,000 satellites) that could host cloud compute and some crypto mining capacity.”
CEO Philip Johnston made public announcements on platforms like X and HyperChange. Some social posts about the plans were reportedly deleted, underscoring that the company's messaging and regulatory steps, including engagement with the FCC, are still evolving as it prepares for upcoming launches.