BITCOIN MINING IS LEAVING EARTH AS NVIDIA-BACKED STARTUP TARGETS ORBIT

A new chapter in cryptocurrency infrastructure may be unfolding beyond the planet itself. Starcloud, a U.S.-based startup backed by Nvidia, is pushing forward with plans to test Bitcoin mining hardware in space, building on an earlier mission that successfully placed an Nvidia H100 GPU into low Earth orbit.

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The company now says a followup spacecraft scheduled for late 2026 will carry dedicated ASIC mining hardware, marking what could become the first attempt to mine Bitcoin directly from orbit.

If successful, Starcloud would move cryptocurrency infrastructure into a domain once reserved strictly for scientific experiments and satellite communications.

FROM GPU TESTS TO ORBITAL ASIC MINING

Starcloud’s initial launch last year was described as a proof of concept. The spacecraft carried an Nvidia H100 GPU — a chip typically associated with artificial intelligence and data center workloads — to evaluate performance stability in microgravity and vacuum conditions.

Executives now indicate that the second mission will pivot toward application-specific integrated circuits, or ASIC miners, which are purpose-built for Bitcoin hashing. Unlike GPUs, ASICs are optimized for energy-efficient mining performance, making them the backbone of terrestrial Bitcoin mining farms.