Satlyt tests orbital task-scheduling software for distributed satellite computing in NASA-funded University of Houston experiment
Satlyt, a startup founded in 2024 by Rama Afullo (formerly of Google and SpaceX), reported a successful in-orbit test of software that distributes computing tasks across satellites. The test was run with the University of Houston on a NASA-funded research project. One physical computer aboard a spacecraft evaluated a simulated network of four computing hosts, four users and eight services, then returned results to Earth. The company says the software is already on three satellites in orbit. NASA has not selected it for any mission. This is product and industry news with no direct threat or vulnerability content.
Detalhes técnicos
- The test showed the software can generate task-assignment plans on in-orbit hardware, accounting for compute and communication availability.
- One approach performed best but needed more computing power than the others.
- Satlyt found a flaw in how its software handled time-referencing: it stamped arrival time rather than elapsed delay.
- Open items Afullo listed: usable communication links, operator permission, secure transfers, resource scheduling and recovery when a connection becomes unavailable.
- Next steps are broader validation and integration, then demonstrations of computing shared across separate spacecraft.
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Satlyt tests orbital task-scheduling software for distributed satellite computing in NASA-funded University of Houston experiment
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Satlyt, a startup founded in 2024 by Rama Afullo (formerly of Google and SpaceX), reported a successful in-orbit test of software that distributes computing tasks across satellites. The test was run with the University of Houston on a NASA-funded research project. One physical computer aboard a spacecraft evaluated a simulated network of four computing hosts, four users and eight services, then returned results to Earth. The company says the software is already on three satellites in orbit. NASA has not selected it for any mission. This is product and industry news with no direct threat or vulnerability content.
Technical Details
- The test showed the software can generate task-assignment plans on in-orbit hardware, accounting for compute and communication availability.
- One approach performed best but needed more computing power than the others.
- Satlyt found a flaw in how its software handled time-referencing: it stamped arrival time rather than elapsed delay.
- Open items Afullo listed: usable communication links, operator permission, secure transfers, resource scheduling and recovery when a connection becomes unavailable.
- Next steps are broader validation and integration, then demonstrations of computing shared across separate spacecraft.