GoKawiil
Tech News
Google has put its first satellite designed to host data center-style compute into orbit, according to reports. The spacecraft is reportedly operational and has been used to run basic AI workloads, including generating text output as a demonstration.
Satlyt, a startup building software to turn satellites into distributed data-processing networks, completed a test this month in partnership with the University of Houston on a NASA-funded research project. The test simulated four computers, four users and eight services, with one physical satellite computer running the software to allocate tasks based on available compute and communication, then sending results to Earth. Satlyt's software is already installed on three orbiting satellites, though NASA has not selected the company for any specific mission.
Satlyt, a startup founded by former Google and SpaceX engineer Rama Afullo, has raised an $8 million seed round and is launching its satellite-based AI software on a SpaceX rocket this Thursday. The same launch carries the first prototype for Google's Project Suncatcher, its own orbital data center initiative. Satlyt doesn't build its own satellites; instead it makes software that lets AI models run across other companies' spacecraft, using fewer ground-based flight controllers.
Satlyt, a startup co-founded by former Google and SpaceX engineer Rama Afullo, has raised an $8 million seed round to develop software that lets multiple satellites share AI computing workloads in orbit. Unlike rivals such as SpaceX, Google and Starcloud, Satlyt does not build its own spacecraft; instead it aims to supply software that runs across other companies' satellites. The company's software is scheduled to launch on a SpaceX rocket alongside Google's first Project Suncatcher prototype.
Google will launch its first Project Suncatcher test satellite, called MVP, on October 1 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 as part of the Transporter-18 rideshare mission. The refrigerator-sized craft carries four of Google's custom TPU AI chips and roughly one kilowatt of solar power, and it uses a spacecraft body built by satellite imagery firm Planet Labs rather than a custom-built Google design. The test mission will run for only a few months.
China's CAS Space launched the Kinetica 1 Y18 rocket on September 20, carrying nine satellites including the Supercomputing-1 (S-AIDC-1), built by S-AIDC. The satellite combines a high-resolution optical payload with an onboard AI computer to process Earth-observation data in orbit rather than transmitting raw data to ground-based data centers, reportedly cutting processing times from hours to minutes.
Philip Johnston, co-founder of the orbital data center company Starcloud, has joined other entrepreneurs to announce the 'Fermi Explorer' project, aiming to raise $15 million to build and launch a small spacecraft carrying a 1-kg payload toward Alpha Centauri. The stated goal is to have the probe reach that star system in under 80,000 years, testing assumptions behind the Fermi paradox about why humanity hasn't detected extraterrestrial civilizations.