Starcloud, a space infrastructure startup backed by NVIDIA, plans to conduct its first Bitcoin mining experiment in space later this year, potentially opening a new chapter in the expansion of crypto infrastructure into orbital space. Founded in 2024, Starcloud aims to deploy dedicated mining equipment into upcoming spacecraft launches. If the experiment is successful, the company will explore the feasibility of using orbital computing resources to handle high-workload tasks.
Bitcoin mining relies on Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) chips, hardware that far outperforms general-purpose Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) in terms of hash rate per unit of energy consumption. According to the company's technology lead, a B200 GPU with a power consumption of 1 kilowatt costs approximately $30,000, while an ASIC chip with the same power consumption costs only about $1,000. In the high-launch-cost environment of space, this cost difference makes ASIC systems more economically advantageous.
Furthermore, global Bitcoin mining already consumes nearly 20 gigawatts of electricity annually. As ground-based energy pressures increase, solar-powered space computing facilities are seen as a potentially sustainable alternative. Starcloud believes that orbital mining could develop into a large-scale industry in the future.
In fact, the company's grander vision is to build an orbital data center network of approximately 88,000 solar-powered satellites to serve artificial intelligence and high-performance computing needs. As early as November 2025, Starcloud successfully sent an NVIDIA H100 GPU into orbit, becoming the first case of a top-tier AI chip operating in space. This technological accumulation lays the foundation for a future orbital platform that simultaneously supports AI computing and crypto mining.
Although still in the experimental stage, the feasibility of orbital computing is sparking industry thinking about an "interstellar trading network"—the future may see data transmission and transaction confirmation across celestial bodies via satellite constellations and lunar relay nodes, completely restructuring the operating paradigm of digital assets.