Startup Starcloud, backed by Nvidia, intends to operate bitcoin mining equipment in low Earth orbit and expects launch of Starcloud-2 by year end.

Project overview

According to an interview with Documenting Bitcoin, CEO Philip Johnston said the second spacecraft, Starcloud-2, will carry mining ASICs onboard for in-orbit operations.

Technical rationale

Company executives point to continuous sunlight in selected orbits and passive radiative cooling as key advantages for sustained computing workloads in space.

• Continuous solar exposure provides steady power generation potential for long segments of each orbit.
• Heat rejection by radiation to space removes dependence on terrestrial convective cooling systems.
• Starcloud also cites fewer terrestrial regulatory procedures for hardware located outside national jurisdictions.

Economics and timing

Starcloud presented a cost comparison claiming a kilowatt of ASIC hardware is roughly 30 times cheaper than an equivalent GPU solution.

They illustrated the point with the Nvidia B200 priced at about $30 000 per kilowatt versus an ASIC at approximately $1 000 for the same power class.

Comment from the CEO

«It may be one of the most compelling scenarios for computing in space»

Johnston framed the concept as commercially attractive under certain orbital and power-generation assumptions, while noting the systems are scheduled for deployment by the end of the year.

The company did not provide detailed timelines for operations, regulatory assessments for launch partners, or estimates for expected mining yields in the interview.