The startup Starcloud plans to move bitcoin mining into Earth’s orbit — directly into space. By the end of this year, the Nvidia-backed company intends to launch a special satellite equipped with ASIC miners — devices specifically optimized for cryptocurrency computations. This was announced by Starcloud CEO Philip Johnston.
According to him, using such equipment in space will open a “new era of mining.” ASIC devices for cryptocurrency mining, Johnston explains, are roughly 30 times cheaper than GPUs with similar computational power. “A kilowatt of a B200 chip can cost around $30,000, while an ASIC costs only about $1,000,” the Starcloud CEO clarified, emphasizing the economic attractiveness of the technology.
The core idea is to use orbit as a platform for energy-efficient mining. According to Johnston, bitcoin mining requires constant consumption of about 20 GW of energy, and doing this on Earth is economically inefficient. Space, on the other hand, offers a virtually unlimited and free energy source — solar power. “Mining bitcoin on Earth is pointless in the long run — sooner or later it all has to move into orbit,” he added.
The Starcloud project, specializing in space data centers, was founded in 2024. In November 2025, the company successfully sent its first satellite, Starcloud-1, into orbit, equipped with Nvidia H100 graphics processors. This became the first practical test of its space computing concept.
In early February 2026, the company filed an application with the FCC to deploy 88,000 solar-powered satellites that will form part of orbital data centers. Some of this equipment will be used directly for cryptocurrency mining, which could significantly reduce mining costs and minimize environmental impact.
However, Starcloud’s ambitious plans directly depend on cooperation with SpaceX and the successful launch of the heavy-lift rocket Starship, scheduled for March. Without this launch, deploying a large-scale network of space-based mining platforms will be impossible.
Interestingly, Starcloud is not the only startup working in this field. Another project, Intercosmic Energy, is also focused on mining bitcoin in space. According to information on its official website, the company’s mission is to launch satellites capable of performing the functions of a decentralized issuance center for the first cryptocurrency. However, at the time of publication, Intercosmic Energy has not yet implemented any concrete projects and remains in the planning stage.
If the projects of Starcloud and Intercosmic Energy are successfully implemented, we may witness the emergence of an entirely new industry — space mining — where access to energy and independence from Earth’s infrastructure constraints turn cryptocurrency mining into a highly efficient, almost autonomous process. This could open new opportunities not only for miners but also for researchers in the fields of space computing and distributed networks.
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