# SpaceX develops Kessel, a Vera Rubin NVL72 rack with a passive midplane

> Original title: SpaceX is developing Kessel, a custom Vera Rubin NVL72 rack that replaces internal NVLink cable cartridges with a passive PCB midplane. I...

- Source: SemiAnalysis
- Published: 2026-11-11T03:03:01.000Z
- Bad Influence: https://badinfluence.news/items/s6a2kvfh95vjl2wvnzs056t76
- Original: https://x.com/SemiAnalysis_/status/2120351564720136389

## Summary

SpaceX is developing Kessel, a custom Vera Rubin NVL72 rack that replaces internal NVLink cable cartridges with a passive PCB midplane. It keeps Oberon's 72 GPU packages, 18 compute trays and 9 switch trays, rearranged back-to-back around the board, with a smaller scale-up domain than Kyber. The design is intended for both terrestrial and orbital deployment.

## Post

SpaceX is developing Kessel, a custom Vera Rubin NVL72 rack that replaces internal NVLink cable cartridges with a passive PCB midplane. It keeps Oberon’s 72 GPU packages, 18 compute trays and 9 switch trays, but rearranges them back-to-back around the board. Think mini Kyber, with a smaller scale-up domain and a design intended for both terrestrial and orbital deployment. The question is whether this smaller version can make the midplane practical. (1/4)🧵

![](https://badinfluence.news/api/img-proxy?u=https%3A%2F%2Fpbs.twimg.com%2Fmedia%2FHW0AgybXIAAGuWi.jpg&mode=thumb&exp=1794700800&sig=f47f65ef4cff5496)