The largest open orbital computing cluster for business

Despite all the hype about data centers in the space, there aren’t too many GPUs out there. As that begins to change, the near-term orbital computing business is beginning to take shape.

The largest computing cluster currently in orbit was launched by Canada’s Kepler Communications in January, and includes about 40 Nvidia Orin edge processors aboard 10 operational satellites, all linked together by laser communications links.

The company now has 18 clients, and announced its newest client on Monday, Sophia Space, a startup it will test the software for. Unique orbital computer On board the Kepler constellation.

Experts predict that we won’t see large-scale data centers like those envisioned by SpaceX or Blue Origin until the 2030s. The first step will be to process data collected in orbit to improve the capabilities of space sensors used by private companies and government agencies.

Kepler doesn’t see itself as a data center company, but rather as infrastructure for applications in the space, CEO Mina Mitri tells TechCrunch. It wants to be a layer that provides network services to other satellites in space, or drones and planes in the skies below.

On the other hand, SOFIA is developing passively cooled space computers that could solve a problem Main challenges For large-scale data centers in orbit: Keep powerful processors from overheating without having to build and launch heavy and expensive active cooling systems.

In the new partnership, SOFIA will upload its operating system to one of Kepler’s satellites and attempt to launch and configure it across six GPUs on two spacecraft. This type of activity is table stakes in a terrestrial data center, and this is the first time it will be attempted in orbit. Ensuring the program works in orbit will be a key de-risking exercise for SOFIA ahead of its planned first satellite launch in late 2027.

For Kepler, the partnership helps prove the benefit of its network. Currently, it carries and processes data uploaded from Earth, or collected by payloads hosted on its own spacecraft. But as the sector matures, the company expects to begin linking up with external satellites to provide networking and processing services.

Satellite companies are now planning future assets around this model, Miter says, noting the benefits of vacuum processing for more power-hungry sensors, such as synthetic aperture radar. The US Army is a major customer for this type of work, as it is developing a new missile defense system that relies on satellites to detect and track threats. Kepler has already demonstrated a space-to-air laser link in a US government demonstration.

This type of edge processing – manipulating collected data for a faster response – is where orbital data centers will initially prove their value. This vision distinguishes SOFIA and Kepler from established space companies such as SpaceX and… Blue originalor startup companies such as Starcloud and Etherflox Which is raising significant capital to focus on large-scale data centers equipped with data center-style processors.

“Because we think this is more inference than training, we want more distributed GPUs doing the inference, rather than a single superpower GPU that has the capacity for the training workload,” Mitry told TechCrunch. “If this thing is consuming kilowatts of power and you’re only running 10% of the time, it’s not very useful. In our case, our GPUs are running 100% of the time.”

Once these technologies are proven in orbit, well, anything can happen. Sophia CEO Rob DeMelo points out that Wisconsin adopted a ban on data center construction last week, something some lawmakers in Congress are also pushing. Anything that limits data centers on Earth makes the space alternative more attractive in their eyes.

“There are no more data centers in this country,” DeMelo mused. “It’s going to get weird from here.”