Starcloud has ordered more than 50 mini laser terminals from SpaceX, suitable for transmitting information optically between satellites via intersatellite link (ISL), including the Starlink network, in support of its orbital data center ambitions.

The company hopes to field a constellation of up to 88,000 satellites.

"This collaboration with Starlink gives Starcloud satellites continuous, high-bandwidth, low-latency connectivity. That’s what turns individual satellites into a functioning distributed data center," said Philip Johnston, co-founder and CEO of Starcloud, in a statement.

The new lasers will be installed on all future Starcloud satellites starting with Starcloud-2, intended to launch in January 2027. Each Starcloud satellite is to carry two of Starlink’s laser terminals, which are capable of transmitting up to 25Gbps over distances up to 4,000 kilometers (2,485 miles).

Neither company has disclosed the financial details of the transaction.

Starlink recently filed with the FCC to orbit a one-million-satellite constellation.

The Redmond, Washington-based startup already counts AI infrastructure provider Crusoe as an early customer for Starcloud-2, alongside Nvidia, while partnering with AWS and Google.

Starcloud’s Johnston argues that enabling 25Gbps of inter-satellite connectivity on the 200kW capacity of the planned Starcloud-3 means greater external connectivity per watt than the primitive “ground-based data centers” of yore. The trouble is that most space data doesn’t need to go somewhere else in space; it needs to come down to Earth, a journey optical transmission struggles with due to our atmosphere and its weather patterns.

Johnson has also stated an ambition to enable an Energy-as-a-Service solution for customers seeking to run their own computing capacity in orbit.

In early May, SpaceNews reported that an anonymous source close to the company said Starcloud was looking to raise at least $200 million to support its development roadmap, following the $170m funding round that cemented its unicorn status and doubled its valuation to about $2.2 billion.

Starcloud joins climate monitoring startup Muon Space in locking in dependence on Starlink laser ISLs after the company began adopting the mini lasers in October. Commercial space station developer Vast also announced its adoption of the technology in 2024 for its Haven-1 space station.