Seattle-based startup Starcloud, a startup building solar-powered data centers that operate in space, has announced $170 million in funding, bringing it to unicorn status with a $1.1 billion valuation. The company is the fastest in Y Combinator history to achieve this milestone, reaching the billion-dollar mark just 17 months after its accelerator demo day. Starcloud is engineering satellites equipped with solar panels, radiation shielding, communication devices, and a cooling system adapted from International Space Station technology. The startup's CEO and co-founder, Philip Johnston, said the company was "roundly pilloried" in its early days and faced skepticism. In November, Starcloud launched Starcloud-1, a satellite carrying an Nvidia H100 chip, demonstrating that the hardware could process AI workloads reliably in orbit. Its next milestone will be the launch of Starcloud 2, a system with 100 times the power generation capacity and featuring Nvidia's Blackwell B200 chip, considered the most powerful AI chip in the world. Despite facing backlash from local governments and President Trump, Johnston believes that space-based computing won't replace terrestrial data centers with satellite power demand and growing opposition from local communities, predicting a shift in economics in space within a decade.