NVIDIA backed Starcloud trained the first ever AI model in orbit:
H100 GPU, SpaceX launch, Shakespeare training data. It replied in Elizabethan English. 🎭🛰️
Space = ☀️ free solar power + ❄️ natural cooling + 🌌 infinite scale
No grid. No cooling towers. No energy bills.
Orbital data centers are no longer sci-fi; they are infrastructure. 🤖
#SpaceAI #NVIDIA #Starcloud #AIinSpace #OrbitalCompute #FutureTech
aaaaand here's Starcloud launching an H100 into space and running Gemma on it (!) https://www.cnbc.com/2025/12/10/nvidia-backed-starcloud-trains-first-ai-model-in-space-orbital-data-centers.html
I still think all the prior technical barriers apply, and whether this is “proof of concept" or “publicity stunt" remains to be seen (I do not think this will scale to anything like what we see terrestrially, let alone make any financial sense long-term, without some profound changes in the physics of power production and heat dissipation).
I finally got around to reading this and boy is it good:
“If we use 200kW as a baseline and assume all of that power will be fed to GPUs, we'd need a system 12.5 times bigger, i.e., roughly 531 square metres, or about 2.6 times the size of the relevant solar array. This is now going to be a very large satellite, dwarfing the ISS in area, all for the equivalent of three standard server racks on Earth.”
Why training AI in orbit is a non-starter (orbital compute is NOT going to look like the same kinds of use cases we are currently obsessed with on the ground): https://taranis.ie/datacenters-in-space-are-a-terrible-horrible-no-good-idea/ #space #orbitalcompute #LEO
Several notable developments in orbital compute recently:
* Sophia Space is partnering with Armada to launch a fully integrated Earth-to-orbit compute infrastructure aimed at defense, energy, and autonomy use cases (and yes, AI is involved). https://sophia.space/news/armada-and-sophia-space-unveil-first-of-its-kind-fully-integrated-earth-to-space-edge-ai-platform
* Axiom Space announced plans to add optically-interconnected Orbital Data Center (ODC) infrastructure to the ISS. Two nodes will launch by end of this year. https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/17/axiom_space_aims_for_orbit/
* And my favorite is this lengthy and detailed look at the challenges and potential use cases and upsides of orbital compute from the smart cookies at Per Aspera (particularly liked that they did not shy away from problems like deorbiting risks and whether this even makes sense, although I wish they would have mentioned Kessler Syndrome and more stuff in the night sky). If you want to understand what's going on with orbital compute and why anybody thinks it makes sense to send servers into space, this is the analysis to read. https://www.peraspera.us/p/realities-of-space-based-compute
TechGlimmer_Official
Osma A 🇫🇮🇺🇦
Scott Francis
