Data Center Dynamics · Jul 2026
Reports Starcloud’s Crusoe partnership, the expected Starcloud-1 launch, and the company’s early customer path for orbital compute.
Company research
Public company, workplace, funding, and market signals
Updated Jul 29, 2026
Overview
Starcloud (formerly Lumen Orbit) is a Redmond-based deep-tech startup building space-based data centers and orbital AI infrastructure. It markets solar-powered, radiatively cooled compute in orbit for AI training, inference, storage, and satellite data processing.
Primary product
Starcloud-2 in-space GPU cluster and cloud-computing satellite platform
Founded
2024
Headquarters
2517 152nd Ave NE, Redmond, WA 98052
Team size
11-50 employees
Industry
Defense and Space Manufacturing
Sub-industry
space-based data centers / in-orbit cloud infrastructure
Offices
Redmond, WA
Bellevue, WA
Business model
B2B
usage-based SaaS
hardware + subscription
government contracts
Funding
Stage
Series A
Total raised
$200M
Latest round
Series A · Mar 2026
Latest amount
$170M
Mar 2026 · Benchmark and EQT Ventures
Feb 2025
Feb 2025
Dec 2024 · NFX
Mar 2024
People & investors
Leadership
Co-Founder & CEO
Co-Founder & CTO
Co-Founder & Chief Engineer
Head of Strategy & Growth
Ajmair Heer
Head of Global Business Development, Commercial
Engineering Manager
Principal Software Engineer
Investors
776 Ventures
Adjacent
Andreessen Horowitz
Andreessen Horowitz scout funds
Benchmark
Caffeinated Capital
Chetan Puttagunta
Dennis Muilenburg
EQT Ventures
Everywhere Ventures
Foreword Ventures
FUSE
Fuse Ventures
Gen. Stephen Wilson
In-Q-Tel
Kevin Johnson
Macquarie Capital
Manhattan West
Monolith Power Systems
Nebular
NFX
NVIDIA Inception Program
Pareto Holdings
Plug and Play
Sequoia Capital
Sequoia scout funds
Soma Capital
Stephen Wilson
Sterling Road
Tiny.vc
Work & culture
Mission-driven and fast-paced, with a strong deep-tech engineering culture. Public job descriptions emphasize rapid prototyping, on-orbit testing, and willingness to work extended hours and weekends.
Visa sponsorship
Limited
Compensation
Public job postings show salary bands such as Software Engineer L1 $120k-$145k, L2 $140k-$170k, Senior $160k-$210k; Thermal Engineer L1 $125k-$160k, L2 $160k-$215k; GNC Engineer L1 $120k-$155k, L2 $145k-$195k; Senior TPM $140k-$240k. Roles also advertise stock options and bonuses.
Benefits
stock options
bonuses
Product & market
Pricing
Contract-based B2B pricing; public profile signals usage-based SaaS, hardware + subscription, and government-contract revenue models.
Differentiators
- —builds data centers in space rather than on Earth
- —uses 24/7 solar power and passive radiative cooling
- —first satellite carried an NVIDIA H100 GPU into orbit
- —on-orbit processing reduces downlink bottlenecks and latency
- —targets sovereign cloud/data storage and high-performance compute in orbit
Technology
NVIDIA H100
NVIDIA Blackwell
AWS server blade
Python
C
C++
Ansys
Thermal Desktop
Altium
Altium Designer
SolidWorks
MATLAB
UDP/TCP/IP
GNSS
laser inter-satellite links
high-voltage DC power systems
direct-to-chip liquid cooling
Customers
satellite operators
spacecraft operators
government and defense customers
commercial AI/compute customers
earth observation / sensor-processing users
Competitors
SpaceX orbital compute initiatives
Google Project Suncatcher
Aethero
Aetherflux
terrestrial hyperscale cloud/data center providers
Scale & contact
Estimated revenue
$100K-$5.0M
Estimated monthly visits
54.4K
Traffic estimate as of May 2026
Latest news
Data Center Dynamics · Jul 2026
DCD summarized Starcloud’s Series A, its $200M total funding, and its plans for Starcloud-3, a manufacturing facility, and broader orbital-scale deployment.
Data Center Dynamics · Jul 2026
Starcloud’s first satellite reached orbit and is operating with the first Nvidia H100 GPU in space; Crusoe is expected to gain limited access from early 2027.
SpaceNews · May 2026
SpaceNews reported Starcloud signed a SpaceX contract for more than 50 Starlink Mini Lasers for its future orbital data-center constellation, improving inter-satellite connectivity.
SpaceNews · May 2026
SpaceNews reported Starcloud was seeking at least $200M more, potentially at about a $2.2B valuation, underscoring continued capital intensity and investor appetite.
Jobs and careers at Starcloud
0 jobs at Starcloud
No open positions
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