Satlyt has completed a successful test of software designed to coordinate computing tasks across satellites, bringing its vision of orbital data centers a step closer. The project was conducted with the University of Houston through NASA-funded research.
The software evaluates available computing capacity and communication links to decide where tasks should run. In the test, it planned work across a simulated network of four computers, while one computer aboard a spacecraft in orbit ran the software. The other three computers were simulated, and the results were sent back to Earth.
Founded in 2024, Satlyt aims to help satellites process information onboard rather than depend on sending all collected data to Earth for analysis. Its software is already installed on three satellites. The test demonstrated that the system could generate task-allocation plans using orbital hardware; further work will explore how multiple physical computers can share information in practice.
Building toward shared computing in space
Satellite operators could set permissions, priorities and operating limits, with the software managing assignments within those boundaries. This approach may help missions make better use of limited computing resources and intermittent communication links--for example, by identifying and relaying relevant information about an event on Earth more quickly.
Satlyt plans to validate the software under a wider range of workloads, hardware and connectivity conditions, then demonstrate computing tasks shared across separate spacecraft. Turning satellites into a coordinated computing network could eventually help mission teams access useful information sooner and support new applications in space.
