Starcloud, a startup developing satellites for in-orbit AI inference, has secured a $250 million extension to its March $170 million Series A funding round, the company told TechCrunch. The new capital values the startup at $2.3 billion.
The additional funding will support the construction of a larger manufacturing facility and accelerate development of Starcloud-3, the company's flagship orbital data center spacecraft, designed to launch aboard SpaceX's upcoming Starship rocket. CEO Philip Johnston is also stockpiling capital to secure launch capacity as the market tightens.
“We can see what's coming—we're going to need to book an enormous amount of launch,” Johnston said. Starcloud has already applied to the FCC for permission to operate 88,000 spacecraft.
“As soon as we can, we want to get under contract with things like Starship,” Johnston explained. “One of the biggest costs is now on securing your launch capacity….launch is pretty constrained right now because [SpaceX's] Falcon 9 program is scheduled to end in 2028.”
The Growing Launch Bottleneck
Launch costs were already among the biggest hurdles for orbital data center startups—so much so that one competitor, Cowboy Space, recently raised $275 million to build its own rockets. Now, SpaceX's plan to phase out the reliable Falcon 9 in favor of the much larger, but still unproven, Starship adds a layer of uncertainty for satellite operators. The challenge is compounded by the inconsistent flight schedules of other vehicles: Blue Origin's New Glenn and ULA's Vulcan are not yet flying regularly, while Rocket Lab's Neutron has yet to reach the pad.
For now, Starcloud is focused on launching two of its next-generation 8 kW compute satellites (dubbed Starcloud-2) on rideshare missions in 2027. These satellites will perform orbital inference tasks for customers, including US government agencies. The company is also considering purchasing a dedicated Falcon 9 launch to deploy additional spacecraft and is in talks with other launch providers for future missions.
Betting on Starship
Starcloud's long-term strategy hinges on Starship's ability to dramatically reduce launch costs, enabling the build-out of an orbital inference layer competitive with terrestrial data centers. Johnston says he remains confident in SpaceX's ability to prove the world's most powerful rocket can be reused quickly and frequently.
This week, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced a delay in the attempt to catch a returning Starship rocket, pushing the first reflight attempt to late 2026 or early 2027.
“Obviously if we can't book any SpaceX launch capacity in 2029, that will be challenging for us,” Johnston admitted.
Funding Details
The extension was led by Manhattan West Ventures, with participation from Nvidia and Cisco. A person familiar with the deal said Nvidia contributed $25 million to the round.
via TechCrunch AI