Key points
- Jensen Huang describes Nvidia's new server work with SpaceX
- Elon Musk sets a production target for Star Mind
- Where SpaceX's Starship rocket stands
Nvidia (NVDA) chief executive Jensen Huang said on the BG2 podcast that the company and SpaceX (SPCX) are designing servers for data centers in orbit. The episode was posted Thursday, Oct. 15. "One particular new market that we're going to go explore together is putting data centers out in space," Huang said, adding that the two engineering teams are building "a new type of architecture that might be super good in space and on Earth."
SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk answered on X later the same day. "Old friends are the best friends. Jensen rocks," he wrote. He said the Star Mind computer "being co-engineered by SpaceX and Nvidia is far better than almost anyone expects and will reach volume production next year."
The space version of Vera Rubin was announced in August
The orbital plan itself isn't new. On Aug. 24, Musk wrote that SpaceX and Nvidia had designed a space-optimized Vera Rubin NVL72 system for launch to orbit in the fourth quarter of 2027, "with significant scale in 2028." Nvidia's standard NVL72 combines 72 Rubin GPUs and 36 Vera CPUs in one rack.
Musk's August post set a launch target. His Thursday post adds a goal for volume production next year, without saying how many units that means. SpaceX chief financial officer Bret Johnsen said in September that the company's compute satellites are due to fly next year, with service capability in the first half of 2028.
Starship, SpaceX's heavy rocket, reached orbit for the first time on Sept. 28, on its 14th test flight.
SpaceX shares closed at $148.62 on Thursday, and Nvidia closed at $217.23. In early trading Friday, at 9:57 a.m. Eastern, SpaceX was at $144.93, down 2.5%, and Nvidia was at $215.76, down 0.7%.
