NVIDIA's H100 GPUs Are Heading to Space, Powered by the Sun and Cooled by the Cosmos

In a move to address the growing energy consumption and land use challenges of Earth-based data centers, AI startup Starcloud is planning to launch data centers into space, a venture that has now secured the support of tech giant NVIDIA. According to a Wccftech report on October 22, this ambitious project aims to create a new frontier for high-performance computing beyond our planet's atmosphere.

Starcloud's vision, first announced in June with its "Space Data Center" initiative, is to ultimately build the world's first gigawatt-scale (1 million kW) data center in orbit. This massive facility would be populated with a large number of AI chips and powered by a colossal 4 km × 4 km solar array, tapping into a constant and abundant energy source.

NVIDIA's H100 GPUs Are Heading to Space

NVIDIA officially confirmed its partnership with Starcloud in a blog post on October 15, detailing the initial phase of the mission. The two companies will collaborate to launch the Starcloud-1, a 60 kg satellite equipped with a powerful NVIDIA H100 AI GPU. This first step will serve as a crucial proof of concept for the larger orbital data center goal.

NVIDIA's H100 GPUs Are Heading to Space

According to NVIDIA, this space-based H100 will deliver a computational capability 100 times greater than any other computing mission currently in space. More significantly, this approach completely bypasses the energy constraints of terrestrial data centers. By continuously harvesting sunlight in orbit, the data center can access a near-infinite power supply without relying on batteries or backup power systems.

The project also presents an elegant solution to one of the biggest challenges in computing: heat dissipation. NVIDIA plans to leverage the vacuum of deep space as a natural, large-scale cooling system. Waste heat generated by the data center will be radiated directly into space through infrared emissions. This method, described as a natural "celestial radiator," requires no water, enhancing operational efficiency and conserving a precious resource on Earth.

NVIDIA's H100 GPUs Are Heading to Space


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