Starfire: The Chip with Which Intel Aims to Conquer Space
The Intel 18A manufacturing process is not only intended for consumer CPUs like Panther Lake or the Xeon offerings, but also for a rather particular application: Starfire. This is the code name chosen by Intel for a new family of System-on-Chip developed specifically for space applications, where reliability, longevity, and resistance to extreme environments are fundamental requirements.
The new SoCs are produced in the United States for the American government and, according to Intel, are designed to offer a competitive price compared to available market alternatives while maintaining the certifications and features required by platforms intended to operate in space. The goal is to provide a solution capable of ensuring continuous operation during long-duration missions, even in the presence of significant thermal swings and high radiation exposure.
From an architectural standpoint, Starfire derives from the Panther Lake configuration with Xe3 graphics and is available in two variants: Low Power and Performance. Both share a CPU composed of 8 cores, divided into four P-Cores and four low-power cores (LPE), differing mainly in operating frequencies and power consumption. The Low Power version reaches 1 GHz on P-Cores and 850 MHz on LPE cores, while the Performance model pushes the frequencies to 3.1 GHz and 2.1 GHz, respectively.
The graphics component remains common across both configurations, featuring an integrated Xe3 GPU with 4 processing units (64 Execution Units) manufactured using the Intel 3 process. However, the frequencies vary: up to 1 GHz in the Low Power model and up to 2 GHz in the Performance version. Dedicated artificial intelligence acceleration is provided by an NPU built with the Intel 18A process. AI performance reaches 45 TOPS in the low-power configuration and 75 TOPS in the more powerful version, maintaining TDPs of 10 W and 35 W, respectively. Intel has also adopted a packaging based on Foveros technology, a well-known solution from the company useful for integrating multiple components within the same package.
What most distinguishes Starfire from traditional processors intended for the consumer market is its design for use in space. The SoCs are developed to withstand radiation effects, with protections and characterizations related to TID (Total Ionizing Dose), SEL (Single Event Latch-up), and SEE (Single Event Effects), essential elements to ensure the proper functioning of electronic systems in orbit or during space missions.
The specifications also declare an operational range between -55 °C and 125 °C, support for LPDDR5 and DDR5 memory, availability of 12 PCI Express Gen4 lanes, and a projected lifespan exceeding ten years, a vital feature for satellites and other platforms that cannot undergo maintenance once deployed. Finally, Intel indicates that the first samples of the Starfire SoCs will be available in the third quarter of 2026.