Satlyt is building software to run AI models on satellites and coordinate computing tasks between them, rather than manufacturing spacecraft.
The company has completed two test missions; one used Google DeepMind’s Gemma model aboard a Momentus-operated spacecraft.
Founder Rama Afullo says that test reduced data transmissions related to software errors by more than 60%.
Satlyt was founded by Rama Afullo, an engineer with previous experience at Google and SpaceX’s Starlink. He told TechCrunch that he pitched the idea to both companies but was rejected. He then left and co-founded Satlyt, which is based in Sunnyvale, California, and Nairobi. The company has raised $8 million in seed funding.
How artificial intelligence was used in space
Satlyt has already tested its software on two missions. Earlier this year, it used Google DeepMind’s Gemma model on a spacecraft operated by Momentus. According to Afullo, the model reduced the amount of data transmitted for errors in the spacecraft’s software by more than 60%. He estimated that such savings could amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars per satellite each year.
The next mission and goals
The new mission will use a spacecraft from Indian startup TakeMe2Space. It involves three entities with different goals: NASA is paying to test computing service protocols in space, Stellerian wants to test image processing to track objects in orbit, and TakeMe2Space is participating to demonstrate that its satellite can host third-party software.
Sending data from space to Earth is often slow and expensive. Information processing and troubleshooting directly on the satellite are the main uses pursued by Satlyt, which does not need large data centers in orbit to succeed. The company's next goal is to test a common computing system connecting two different satellites next year.
The initial funding round was led by Non Sibi Ventures. One of its partners, Kent Lucas, said Satlyt can scale as the number of satellites it launches. Afullo hopes the company’s software will be on 20 percent of satellites by the end of the decade.
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