SpaceX has picked Nvidia to build the brains of its planned orbital data center network. Each satellite in the Starmind constellation will carry Nvidia's Rubin GPUs and Vera CPUs — the chipmaker's newest generation — to deliver up to a petaflop of AI compute per satellite. Volume shipments are expected in 2027.
The Starmind Plan
Starmind is SpaceX's bid to put data centers in orbit. In January the company filed with the Federal Communications Commission for permission to launch up to one million satellites at altitudes between 500 and 2,000 kilometers. The filing describes a petabit laser mesh linking them. For context, roughly 15,000 satellites orbit Earth today; SpaceX's application would multiply that number by 66.
The FCC accepted the filing in February but hasn't ruled yet. Until it does, the Nvidia order is a chip deal without a license to fly.
Nvidia's Space Push
Nvidia launched its space computing line on March 16, naming six early partners: Aetherflux, Axiom Space, Kepler Communications, Planet Labs, Sophia Space, and Starcloud. SpaceX wasn't on that initial list. The Starmind deal came later, and both stocks rose on the day of the announcement. Nvidia shares climbed 3.03% to $212.91; SpaceX shares jumped 8.67% to $124.46.
The news broke hours before SpaceX reported its first quarterly results as a public company. SpaceX's AI unit lost $6.4 billion on $3.2 billion in revenue last year — a reminder that the orbital data center business is still in its early, expensive phase.
Investor Sentiment and Warnings
Cathie Wood has called SpaceX her favorite holding. But not everyone is bullish on the broader AI space race. NYU finance professor Aswath Damodaran has warned of a coming AI shakeout, though he didn't single out Starmind.
The Starmind constellation faces a long regulatory road. The FCC has yet to act on the January filing, and even if approved, building and launching a million satellites would take years. For now, SpaceX and Nvidia have a hardware deal — but no green light to turn the sky into a server rack.
