Starcloud to Launch AWS Outposts Hardware in Space, Aims to Deploy Fleet of 88,000 Satellites

Why It Matters

Moving high‑performance computing to orbit could shrink terrestrial data‑center footprints while unlocking new, energy‑efficient AI workloads, intensifying competition in the emerging space‑computing market.

Key Takeaways

• Starcloud to launch AWS Outposts hardware on October satellite
• Proposed 88,000‑satellite constellation aims for AI compute
• Space environment offers solar power, cooling, scalability advantages
• Industry rivals include SpaceX, Amazon, Google, Axiom, NTT
• Potential cost, energy efficiency gains over terrestrial data centers

Pulse Analysis

The push to place cloud infrastructure in orbit marks a strategic shift for the tech industry, and Starcloud’s latest announcement underscores that momentum. By integrating AWS Outposts—a proven on‑premise edge solution—into a dedicated satellite, Starcloud aims to deliver familiar AWS services with the latency and bandwidth benefits of low‑Earth orbit. This approach leverages the same hardware stack that enterprises trust on the ground, reducing integration friction and opening a pathway for existing AWS customers to experiment with space‑based workloads without reinventing their stack.

Beyond the single satellite launch, Starcloud’s filing for an 88,000‑satellite constellation signals a long‑term vision of a distributed, space‑native compute fabric. The sheer scale promises to harness near‑constant solar illumination and natural radiative cooling, dramatically lowering power costs and thermal constraints that limit terrestrial data centers. When compared with SpaceX’s million‑satellite data‑center concept or Google’s Project Suncatcher, Starcloud’s focus on AI model training and inference positions it as a niche yet powerful player targeting high‑throughput, low‑latency applications such as real‑time analytics and generative AI services.

Realizing this ambition, however, hinges on navigating regulatory approvals, launch logistics, and the reliability of hardware in harsh orbital conditions. The FCC filing is an early indicator of compliance efforts, but the industry will watch closely for proof points on durability, on‑orbit maintenance, and cost per compute unit. If Starcloud can demonstrate tangible energy savings and competitive pricing, it could catalyze broader adoption of space‑based data centers, reshaping the economics of cloud computing and setting a new benchmark for sustainable, high‑performance AI infrastructure.

Starcloud to launch AWS Outposts hardware in space, aims to deploy fleet of 88,000 satellites

By Philip Johnston (Co‑founder and CEO, Starcloud) · February 9, 2026

Starcloud has revealed its intention to bring Amazon Web Services (AWS) Outposts—AWS’s on‑premise/edge offering—into space, as part of a broader vision to deploy an 88,000‑satellite constellation.

In a LinkedIn post on February 9, Johnston wrote:

“I am excited to share that Starcloud will be the first to launch the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Outpost hardware to space on our second satellite launching in October this year, further enabling high‑performance computing in space!”

AWS Outposts are rack‑ and server‑level solutions that let customers run AWS services in their own data centers or edge locations. First launched in 2018, the service received a new generation in April 2025 that supports AWS’s seventh‑generation x86‑powered Amazon EC2 instances, including the C7i compute‑optimized, M7i general‑purpose, and R7i memory‑optimized families.

Details of the Outposts deployment on Starcloud’s upcoming satellite have not yet been disclosed.

Previous Work

Starcloud previously partnered with Google on its first satellite, launching a satellite equipped with an Nvidia H100 GPU in November 2025. In December, the company announced that it was running and querying responses from Google’s Gemma large language model (LLM) in orbit.

That satellite served as a test; Starcloud now plans to launch larger data‑center‑class satellites.

Proposed Constellation

According to a filing reported by PCMag, Starcloud has submitted a proposal to the FCC for a constellation of up to 88,000 satellites. For context, roughly 14,500 satellites currently orbit Earth, with many more planned in the coming years.

The proposal states that the Starcloud constellation will be used to “train and operate artificial intelligence models and other cloud computing services.” It adds:

“These satellites will utilize the unique advantages of space: near‑constant solar power, radiative cooling, and the ability to scale sizes and power levels not possible on Earth. Leveraging these advantages over terrestrial data centers, these satellites will deliver transformative cost and energy efficiency while significantly reducing the negative impacts associated with terrestrial data centers.”

Industry Context

Starcloud’s plans follow SpaceX’s filing to launch one million data‑center satellites. SpaceX argues that, once its Starship becomes fully reusable, launching one million tonnes of satellites per year—each generating 100 kW of compute power per tonne—could add 100 GW of AI compute capacity annually with minimal ongoing operational or maintenance needs.

Other major players are also exploring space‑based data centers:

• Amazon – Through Amazon Leo, Amazon is developing low‑Earth‑orbit communication satellites. Jeff Bezos has said data centers will eventually end up in space, predicting this could happen within “the next couple of decades.”

• Google – CEO Eric Schmidt announced the acquisition of Relativity Space to place data centers in orbit and unveiled “Project Suncatcher,” a long‑term plan to deploy terawatts of compute in space.

• Axiom Space, NTT, Ramon.Space, and Sophia Space are among additional companies investigating on‑orbit computing technologies.

Starcloud’s ambitious roadmap positions it among the leading innovators seeking to harness the unique environment of space for high‑performance, energy‑efficient computing.