Starcloud’s AI computing payload will get a ride to lunar orbit on Firefly’s space vehicle

What happened

Prototype data center (a building full of computers that runs online services) scheduled to make the trip to the moon to demonstrate Starcloud's in-space processing capabilities in 2028. (Firefly Aerospace Illustration) Redmond, Wash.-based Starcloud has signed up to send its artificial intelligence data-processing hardware into lunar orbit on a Firefly Aerospace spacecraft.

An artist’s conception shows Firefly’s Elytra spacecraft in lunar orbit, with Starcloud’s SC-1L data-processing payload highlighted in purple. Starcloud’s payload (what a rocket is carrying), known as SC-1L, will fly on Firefly’s Elytra orbital vehicle during a NASA-supported mission that’s scheduled for launch no earlier than 2028.

“Space is the future of data centers, and the moon is the next frontier for that vision,” Ezra Feilden, Starcloud’s co-founder and chief technology officer, said today in a news release . Starcloud made its mark in Earth orbit last year with Starcloud-1, a satellite equipped with an Nvidia H100 chip.