Muon Space has announced the development of Condor-Ultra, a new “Starship-class” satellite platform tailored specifically for the emerging orbital data center market.
Scaling Infrastructure for In-Space Computing
Announced on June 3, 2026, this high-power spacecraft bus is designed to accommodate the physical volume and mass allowances of heavy-lift launch vehicles like SpaceX’s Starship, enabling the mass deployment of massive computing constellations. By processing vast amounts of data directly in low Earth orbit, these orbital data centers aim to significantly reduce the bandwidth constraints and latency associated with transmitting raw data back to Earth.
High-Power Specs and AI Integration
The Condor-Ultra platform represents a massive step up in capability, measuring three times larger than Muon Space’s previous Condor-XL bus. The initial variants will generate 20 kW of power, with the architectural flexibility to scale up to 100 kW on future iterations. The spacecraft offers over 18 square meters of payload area and can host roughly 400 kilograms of total payload.
Crucially, Condor-Ultra is explicitly architected to integrate next-generation artificial intelligence hardware, including the NVIDIA Space-1 Vera Rubin Module. This purpose-built module utilizes the Rubin GPU, which reportedly delivers up to 25 times the AI compute performance of an H100 chip for orbital workloads. This computing power will allow satellite operators to perform large-scale AI inferencing directly in space.
Persistent Connectivity and Launch Timeline
To support the massive data requirements of in-orbit computing, the Condor-Ultra bus features 100 Gbps intersatellite optical mesh networking. Additionally, it integrates SpaceX’s Starlink laser-communications terminals to provide always-on, 25 Gbps persistent connectivity to the ground, ensuring continuous mission operations and real-time data delivery.
Muon Space is targeting 2028 to deliver its first Condor-Ultra pathfinder spacecraft to customers. While optimized for the Starship’s stackable mass-deployment, Muon Space President Gregory Smirin noted that the versatile platform is also capable of deploying from medium-lift launchers like SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Rocket Lab’s Neutron, ensuring customers have flexible paths to orbit as the launch market evolves.
