Just after launching NVIDIA's AI server into space, this space startup has turned its attention to Bitcoin mining.

Author: Nancy, PANews

The next battleground for AI computing power is extending into space, gradually becoming a new narrative in the business world.

After successfully launching the first space AI server, a recent space computing startup plans to send Bitcoin mining into outer space.

The plan to mine Bitcoin in space this year may have more symbolic significance than practical value.

Having gone through the first half of chip and model competition, the AI computing power race has quietly shifted toward a battle for energy. Electricity, as the core resource in this competition, is rapidly becoming a scarce resource in the global computing power race. This shift not only changes industry dynamics but also directly redefines the cost structure of Bitcoin mining.

Especially, once stable Bitcoin miners are now turning to AI computing power. Behind this transformation are factors such as the survival pressure from Bitcoin halving, increased competition and rising energy costs squeezing profits, and the huge opportunities presented by AI narratives.

As Bitcoin mining profitability is squeezed by global energy competition, Starcloud has proposed a bold plan to move Bitcoin mining into space.

In a recent interview with HyperChange, Starcloud CEO Philip Johnston revealed that the company is currently focused on its existing space computing business, with plans for Bitcoin mining as well. Starcloud intends to launch ASIC hardware specially designed for Bitcoin mining on the Starcloud-2 satellite, scheduled for late 2026. If successful, Starcloud would become the world’s first spacecraft to mine Bitcoin in space.

Johnston believes space has multiple natural advantages over Earth. First, space has an unlimited and continuous solar energy supply, more stable and cheaper than renewable energy on Earth; second, the environment in space is superior—despite extreme temperature differences and radiation, these conditions can significantly reduce hardware cooling energy consumption, lowering cooling costs and maintenance burdens. Most importantly, space-based Bitcoin mining can avoid the increasing energy bottlenecks, grid limitations, and regulatory pressures on Earth. Currently, about 20 GW of electricity on Earth is used for Bitcoin mining, a scale that is no longer feasible on the ground. In space, utilizing solar energy to obtain cheap power offers a new solution for Bitcoin mining.

Johnston also added that Bitcoin mining equipment typically costs between $600 and several thousand dollars, far less than NVIDIA’s enterprise-grade GPUs (usually over $30,000). This makes space-based Bitcoin mining highly attractive economically.

Starcloud views space Bitcoin mining as a “future business,” leveraging solar energy in space to access cheap power. They openly state that this is one of the reasons they and other companies (including SpaceX) are building data centers in space. Space mining can greatly reduce costs and provide a new resource acquisition model for the global computing market.

The concept of space mining is not new. Last year, Intercosmic Energy announced it was researching Bitcoin mining in space.

However, mining Bitcoin in space still faces many challenges. Johnston admits that the economics of space Bitcoin mining remain unstable. Currently, Bitcoin ASIC devices can run on any cheap energy source, but with the continuous release of new equipment, profitability could quickly decline.

Moreover, although launch costs are decreasing year by year, sending hardware into space remains expensive. Compared to ground-based mines, the startup and maintenance costs of space mining—including launches, spacecraft integration, satellite communications, and equipment upgrades—are still high.

Even more challenging is the harsh space environment, which imposes strict requirements on hardware. Bitcoin ASIC miners need to operate reliably under high radiation and extreme temperature fluctuations, posing severe tests to device performance and lifespan. Maintenance and upgrades will also be difficult, as repairing or replacing hardware in space is costly and complex.

Previously, many crypto organizations have explored bringing blockchain business into space. For example, Blockstream, a veteran in the Bitcoin community, has leased multiple geostationary satellites since 2017 to broadcast Bitcoin blockchain data worldwide for free. Even if large-scale internet outages occur (due to natural disasters or intentional blockades), anyone with a small satellite dish can sync the Bitcoin ledger and complete transactions. SpaceChain installed the first commercial Ethereum node on the International Space Station (ISS) in 2019. Earlier this year, a new space-focused project, Spacecoin, attracted market attention by enabling cryptocurrency payments via satellite networks.

Thus, in the short term, space mining investments may far exceed returns, serving more as a symbolic gesture or a narrative to attract market attention.

First in human history: NVIDIA AI servers sent into space

Founded in 2024, Starcloud, formerly Lumen Orbit, has already made a name in the global tech scene as one of the earliest companies proposing to build data centers in space.

As a member of NVIDIA’s accelerator program, and incubated by Y Combinator and Google Cloud, Starcloud is not simply relocating data centers to space. Its goal is to utilize the unique resources of the space environment to build infrastructure capable of supporting AI computing and large-scale processing.

Starcloud has already raised at least $21 million, backed by well-known investors such as NFX, Y Combinator, FUSE, Soma Capital, a16z, and Sequoia Capital.

Starcloud has secured a position in the space AI computing power race. In November last year, it completed the first-ever training of a large AI model in orbit, launching its Starcloud-1 satellite via SpaceX Falcon 9, carrying NVIDIA H100 GPUs into orbit, and successfully running Google’s open-source AI model Gemma, sending the first message from space to Earth: “Earthlings, hello!”

At that time, Johnston stated that space AI is not just a gimmick; the company’s goal is to achieve orbit data center energy costs ten times lower than ground data centers.

Building on this initial success, Starcloud’s ambitions have not stopped. Recently, the company submitted an application to the FCC to deploy a massive constellation of 88,000 satellites to create a distributed, space-based AI training and cloud computing platform. Turning this vision into reality faces enormous challenges—from funding, regulatory approval, launch capacity, orbital resource allocation, to operational sustainability. It’s not just a business race but a complex engineering challenge, with each step fraught with uncertainty and complexity.

Not only Starcloud, but as AI industry demands for computing resources grow, more tech companies are seeking new sources of power, with space gradually becoming a focal point. For example, Google last year launched the Solar Catcher project, aiming to send its own TPU AI chips into space to prototype a solar-powered space data center; Elon Musk’s SpaceX recently applied to deploy one million satellites in Earth orbit to build orbital data centers; and data storage and disaster recovery firm Lonestar, along with semiconductor and storage company Phiso, launched a space-bound data center infrastructure to the Moon via SpaceX rockets.

As the concept of space data centers moves from science fiction to reality, a new arms race for infrastructure is unfolding. Elon Musk predicts that in five years, space AI computing power will increase by hundreds of gigawatts annually; the AI capacity sent into space each year will surpass the total AI capacity accumulated on Earth.

By then, the main battlefield for AI computing power will truly shift to space. In the coming years, we will see more commercial exploration and technological innovation—space mining may just be one of the pioneers in this wave.