SpaceX to launch Nvidia-powered AI satellite by late 2027, Musk says

Nvidia ↗ 3.21% announced Monday that SpaceX's AI division will deploy the chipmaker's Vera CPUs and Vera Rubin platform to power next-generation agentic AI workloads, with plans to extend that computing architecture into orbit aboard a satellite called Starmind AI1. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said on X that the first orbital launch is targeted for the fourth quarter of 2027, with operations reaching "significant scale" in 2028.bloomberg+1

Musk described the orbital data center design as "significantly simpler, lower cost, denser and lighter than a traditional rack," according to Bloomberg. The Starmind AI1 satellite will be based on an optimized Nvidia Vera Rubin NVL72 rack-scale system, the same accelerated computing architecture powering terrestrial AI data centers.nvidianews.nvidia+2

What the Partnership Entails

According to Nvidia's press release, SpaceXAI will use Vera CPUs to accelerate the orchestration, code execution, data processing, and simulations that surround model inference for its Grok AI system. The Vera chip features 88 Nvidia-designed Olympus cores and up to 1.2 TB/s of memory bandwidth, delivering up to 1.8 times faster task completion compared with x86 processors across agentic AI workloads.nvidianews.nvidia+2

The partnership builds on a deepening relationship between the two companies. In early August, Musk revealed that SpaceX would exclusively use Nvidia chips for its AI infrastructure going forward, calling the Vera Rubin architecture "the best" available.morningstar+1

Market Reaction

Despite Musk's enthusiasm, both Nvidia and SpaceX shares fell on Monday. Nvidia declined roughly 3%, extending losses ahead of its earnings report scheduled for August 26. SpaceX, which began trading publicly under the ticker SPCX following its June IPO, also slipped during the session, though NDTV Profit reported the stock briefly turned positive after the Nvidia announcement before fading.beincrypto+1

Analysts attributed the weakness less to the partnership itself and more to broader headwinds — Nvidia faces ongoing concerns over export restrictions and memory costs, while SpaceX remains well below its post-IPO highs as it navigates early trading volatility. Nvidia's upcoming quarterly results Wednesday loom as the more immediate catalyst for both names.beincrypto