Firefly Inks Deal with Starcloud for AI Computing in Lunar Orbit

Firefly Aerospace announced on 30 September 2026 that Starcloud will send an artificial intelligence payload, named SC-1L, to lunar orbit on the company’s third Moon mission. The commercial payload agreement makes Starcloud a customer for the flight, which will use Firefly’s Blue Ghost lander and an Elytra orbital vehicle.

On 30 September 2026, Firefly Aerospace announced that Starcloud has been onboarded as a commercial customer for its third lunar mission under a payload agreement to carry the SC-1L AI computing payload to lunar orbit.

The mission’s Blue Ghost lander, flying under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, will target the Gruithuisen Domes on the Moon.

Firefly’s Elytra transfer vehicle will deliver the lander to the Moon and then remain in lunar orbit for up to five years as a communications relay, while carrying high-resolution telescopes for imaging.

A second Elytra vehicle has already been deployed to lunar orbit.

SC-1L will ingest data from the Solux vision system (formerly Sol3), perform high-power AI computing on orbit, and transmit processed data back to Earth.

Starcloud recently validated the ability to run and train AI models on enterprise-grade GPUs during a low Earth orbit demonstration.

Firefly’s Ocula lunar imaging service, developed in collaboration with NVIDIA, processes data onboard Elytra using NVIDIA Jetson modules to support surface mapping, mineral detection, and reconnaissance.

Firefly’s subsidiary SciTec handles sensor technologies, and Firefly trades on Nasdaq under the ticker FLY.

The deal highlights a growing commercial market for AI computing in cislunar space. By processing data on orbit and transmitting only the results, Starcloud’s payload reduces dependency on limited downlink capacity. Firefly’s Elytra platform, capable of hosting payloads for years in lunar orbit, creates a reusable infrastructure that could support a range of commercial services beyond individual lander missions.

Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lander is part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, which partners with private companies to deliver payloads to the Moon. The company’s Elytra transfer vehicle serves as a mobile orbital hub, hosting instruments and providing communications relay while in lunar orbit.