A startup ran a test in orbit of software meant to let satellites split up computing jobs. Faster data from space is the goal, but the work is early.
A startup called Satlyt ran a successful test this month of software that could let satellites share computing work, a bit like a data center in space. The test ran on a single computer in orbit. It pretended to be a network of four. The company calls it a building block, not a finished product.
Satlyt worked with the University of Houston on a research project funded by NASA. The team built a simulated network with four computers, four users and eight services. The software then decided how to hand out tasks, based on how much computing power and communication each computer had. One real computer on a spacecraft ran the plan and sent the results back to Earth.
One approach worked best, but it needed more computing power than the others. Founder Rama Afullo called that a trade-off. The team also found a bug. The software recorded when a message arrived, not how long it took to arrive. Afullo said the test still worked overall.
Satellites often have limited computing power and only short windows to send data home. Satlyt wants satellites to process information on board and share the work. Afullo gave one example: if a spacecraft spots a wildfire, such software could help send the key details much faster. Users would set permissions, priorities and limits, and the software would decide within them.
Satlyt's software is already on three satellites, and the test took 13 months of work. NASA has not picked the company for any mission. The company still needs to test across different workloads, hardware and connection conditions. Afullo listed what else is missing:
The next steps are broader testing and integration, then demonstrations of computing work shared across separate spacecraft. The test did not use multiple physical computers talking to each other, so that part is unproven. Afullo, who previously worked at Google and SpaceX, founded Satlyt in 2024. The company was in the top five of TechCrunch Disrupt Battlefield this year. It is also researching uses beyond low Earth orbit, including 4K video streaming from the Moon.
Satellites sharing computing work is a real goal, but this test used one computer in orbit and the hard parts are still ahead.
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