Starcloud plans to mine Bitcoin in space with upcoming launch

Starcloud: Starcloud is a U.S.-based startup that designs, builds, and deploys orbital data centers using proprietary satellite technology for high-performance computing workloads. The company has demonstrated space-based compute by launching its first satellite carrying NVIDIA H100 GPUs in late 2025. It is positioned as the entity planning to deploy Bitcoin mining ASICs aboard its second spacecraft, targeting operations later in 2026 to become the first to mine Bitcoin in orbit. Philip Johnston: Philip Johnston is the CEO and co-founder of Starcloud, with a background in consulting and technology. He has publicly outlined the company's strategy for orbital computing, emphasizing Bitcoin mining as a practical early application due to hardware efficiency. Johnston confirmed the inclusion of ASIC miners on the upcoming Starcloud-2 mission and highlighted space advantages for energy-intensive tasks like cryptocurrency mining. Space Compute: Orbital environments provide continuous solar power and passive cooling, making them suitable for energy-intensive computing applications including cryptocurrency mining. Hardware Efficiency: Specialized ASIC chips for Bitcoin mining offer significantly lower cost per unit of power compared to general-purpose GPUs, enabling earlier testing of space-based systems. Orbital Infrastructure: Companies are advancing satellite constellations to support data centers in low Earth orbit, expanding beyond initial GPU demonstrations to additional workloads like mining.