Firefly Aerospace has signed Starcloud as a commercial customer for a payload mission that will test artificial intelligence computing in lunar orbit aboard its Elytra orbital vehicle. Starcloud’s SC-1L payload will fly on Firefly’s third lunar mission, currently planned for no earlier than 2028, and will process data from Firefly’s Solux vision system before sending the results back to Earth.
The agreement ties Starcloud’s compute ambitions to Firefly’s lunar logistics platform, which is designed to carry customer payloads as part of the company’s broader cislunar services strategy. Elytra will first support Firefly’s Blue Ghost lander mission, providing transfer and communications functions before remaining in lunar orbit for five years for further payload and imaging operations.
The mission is intended to validate the core functions of a future data centre around the Moon, including support for lunar surface and orbital infrastructure. By placing on-orbit processing hardware alongside Firefly’s imaging system, the companies are targeting a demonstration of AI workloads beyond Earth orbit, where bandwidth and latency constraints make local processing more valuable.
Firefly’s plan also positions Elytra as a long-duration orbital platform rather than a short mission support craft. The vehicle’s five-year presence in lunar orbit is central to the commercial model, allowing it to host additional customer payloads after the initial lander operations are complete.