AI Hits a Power Wall. Starcloud Launches Data Centers Into Orbit

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Jan 13, 2026

Philip Johnston, co-founder and CEO of Starcloud, is pioneering orbital data centers to tackle the power challenges plaguing AI. He discusses launching the first NVIDIA H100 GPU into orbit, explaining how continuous solar power and vacuum cooling can revolutionize computing. Johnston also highlights SpaceX's role in making space more accessible and the efficiency of space-based solar arrays. He delves into operational constraints and near-term applications, emphasizing the potential of low-latency inference for Earth observation.

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INSIGHT

Bring Compute To The Power

If the bottleneck for data centers is continuous, affordable power, move compute to the power source rather than bringing power to compute.
Philip Johnston argues space provides continuous solar and direct radiative cooling, reframing where data centers get built.

ANECDOTE

First H100 In Orbit And Model Training

StarCloud launched its first spacecraft with an NVIDIA H100 and trained NanoGPT in orbit.
Philip Johnston described running early demos including a Gemini variant on that satellite.

ADVICE

Plan For Reusable Launch Scale

Treat reusable launch vehicles as the fundamental game-changer for scale, not just cost per launch.
Plan orbital strategies assuming Starship-like reusability multiplies launch capacity and lowers long-term unit costs.

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Philip Johnston is co-founder and CEO of Starcloud, a company building data centers in space to solve AI's power crisis. Starcloud has already launched the first NVIDIA H100 GPU into orbit and is partnering with cloud providers like Crusoe to scale orbital computing infrastructure.

As AI demand accelerates, data centers are running into a new bottleneck: access to reliable, affordable power. Grid congestion, interconnection delays, and cooling requirements are slowing the deployment of new AI data centers, even as compute demand continues to surge. Traditional data centers face 5-10 year lead times for new power projects due to permitting, interconnection queues, and grid capacity constraints.

In this episode, Philip explains why Starcloud is building data centers in orbit, where continuous solar power is available and heat can be rejected directly into the vacuum of space. He walks through Starcloud’s first on-orbit GPU deployment, the realities of cooling and radiation in space, and how orbital data centers could relieve pressure on terrestrial power systems as AI infrastructure scales.

Episode recorded on Dec 11, 2025 (Published on Jan 13, 2026)

In this episode, we cover:

[04:59] What Starcloud's orbital data centers look like (and how they differ from terrestrial facilities)
[06:37] How SpaceX Starship's reusable launch vehicles change space economics
[10:45] The $500/kg breakeven point for space-based solar vs. Earth
[14:15] Why space solar panels produce 8x more energy than ground-based arrays
[21:19] Thermal management: Cooling NVIDIA GPUs in a vacuum using radiators
[25:57] Edge computing in orbit: Real-time inference on satellite imagery
[29:22] The Crusoe partnership: Selling power-as-a-service in space
[31:21] Starcloud's business model: Power, cooling, and connectivity
[34:18] Addressing critics: What could prevent orbital data centers from working

Key Takeaways:

Starcloud launched the first NVIDIA H100 GPU into orbit in November 2024
Space solar produces 8x more energy per square meter than terrestrial solar
Breakeven launch cost for orbital data centers: $500/kg
Current customers: DOD and commercial Earth observation satellites needing real-time inference
Target: 10 gigawatts of orbital computing capacity by early 2030s

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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant