Satlyt takes another step toward turning satellites into space data centers 

Naturally, Rama Afullo’s first reaction was, “Let’s GOOOO,” he said. His company, Satlyt, is building software to turn existing satellites into data processing networks, similar to the orbital data center concept. And he just took another step closer to that.

拉玛·阿富洛（Rama Afullo）的第一反应是“冲啊”，他说。他的公司 Satlyt 正在开发一种软件，旨在将现有的卫星转变为数据处理网络，类似于轨道数据中心的概念。他刚刚向这一目标又迈进了一步。

After 13 months of work, the company had a successful test earlier this month. Working with the University of Houston on a NASA-funded research project, the test showed how the startup’s software can spread out tasks among computers while in orbit based on communication and available compute.

经过 13 个月的工作，该公司在本月初进行了一次成功的测试。在与休斯顿大学合作的一个由美国国家航空航天局（NASA）资助的研究项目中，测试展示了该初创公司的软件如何根据通信和可用计算能力，在轨道上的计算机之间分配任务。

He said the goal is to create software that connects to multiple satellites to share computing assignments. Users of the system “will only need to define permissions, priorities, and operating limits,” while the software will make decisions within those limits, Afullo told TechCrunch.

他说，目标是创建一种能够连接多颗卫星以共享计算任务的软件。阿富洛告诉 TechCrunch，该系统的用户“只需要定义权限、优先级和操作限制”，而软件将在这些限制内做出决策。

Its software is already on three satellites in orbit and the first step to that vision was this test. While the test used NASA-funded research, the agency has not yet selected it for any particular mission or chosen it to deploy its technology.

其软件已经部署在轨道上的三颗卫星上，而这次测试是实现该愿景的第一步。虽然测试使用了 NASA 资助的研究成果，但该机构尚未将其选用于任何特定任务，也未选择部署其技术。

Afullo said NASA missions face the same constraints that Satlyt hopes to address — “limited computing resources, intermittent communication, and the need to get useful information back to people.” In this test, the company created a simulated network with four computers, four users, and eight services.

阿富洛表示，NASA 的任务面临着 Satlyt 希望解决的同样限制——“有限的计算资源、间歇性的通信，以及将有用信息传回给人们的需求”。在这次测试中，该公司创建了一个包含四台计算机、四个用户和八项服务的模拟网络。

The software then assessed how to assign and run tasks on those computers, accounting for compute and communication availability. One physical computer aboard a spacecraft ran the experiment, evaluating a simulated network of four computing hosts, then returned the results to Earth.

随后，软件评估了如何在这些计算机上分配和运行任务，同时考虑了计算和通信的可用性。一台位于航天器上的物理计算机运行了该实验，评估了一个由四个计算主机组成的模拟网络，并将结果传回地球。

The test proved that Satlyt’s software can generate plans on hardware in orbit, but more testing will be done to see how those computers transfer information amongst each other in practice when multiple physical computers are used. “The finding is a trade-off,” he said. One approach worked best, though it required more computing power than the others.

测试证明，Satlyt 的软件可以在轨道硬件上生成计划，但还需要进行更多测试，以观察当使用多台物理计算机时，这些计算机在实践中如何相互传输信息。他说：“研究结果是一种权衡。”其中一种方法效果最好，尽管它比其他方法需要更多的计算能力。

Still, Satlyt which was in the top five of TechCrunch Disrupt Battlefield this year, calls this a win. “It’s a building block toward satellites sharing computing work,” he said.

尽管如此，今年进入 TechCrunch Disrupt Battlefield 前五名的 Satlyt 仍将此视为一次胜利。他说：“这是卫星共享计算工作的一个基石。”

NASA already has a technology network designed to move data through space even when communication links face delays. It started using this tech earlier this year and has already tested it on aircraft.

NASA 已经拥有一个技术网络，旨在即使在通信链路面临延迟的情况下也能在太空中传输数据。该机构在今年早些时候开始使用这项技术，并已在飞机上进行了测试。

Afullo, who previously worked at Google and SpaceX, founded Satlyt in 2024 to turn spacecraft into virtual data centers. Its software helps operators run AI and other applications onboard, processing data closer to where it is collected and reducing dependence on downlinks, where satellites send data back to Earth, and ground-based analysis.

曾在谷歌和 SpaceX 工作的阿富洛于 2024 年创立了 Satlyt，旨在将航天器转变为虚拟数据中心。其软件帮助运营商在机载运行人工智能和其他应用程序，在数据采集点附近进行处理，从而减少对下行链路（卫星将数据传回地球）和地面分析的依赖。

For example, if a spacecraft sees a wildfire on Earth, such software can help it transmit relevant information much faster. “The goal is to get useful answers to people sooner and make better use of limited communication windows,” he said. “This experiment tested one planning component of that broader capability.”

例如，如果航天器在地球上发现野火，此类软件可以帮助它更快地传输相关信息。他说：“目标是更快地为人们提供有用的答案，并更好地利用有限的通信窗口。这次实验测试了该更广泛能力中的一个规划组件。”

Satlyt said it still needs to test its own software under various workloads, hardware, and connectivity conditions. They also found an issue in how their software was time-referencing delays, Afullo said — it was stamping it as arrival time (the time it arrived) rather than elapsed delay (how long it took to arrive), which is a different metric.

Satlyt 表示，仍需要在各种工作负载、硬件和连接条件下测试其软件。阿富洛说，他们还发现软件在时间参考延迟方面存在一个问题——它将其标记为到达时间（到达的时间），而不是经过的延迟（到达所花费的时间），这是不同的指标。

It doesn’t mean the experiment failed, however. “The software development, onboard execution, and return of outputs succeeded,” he said. But Afullo said much work remains. “We also need usable communication links, permission from participating operators, secure transfers, resource scheduling, and recovery when a connection of computers becomes unavailable.”

然而，这并不意味着实验失败了。他说：“软件开发、机载执行和输出结果的返回都成功了。”但阿富洛表示，仍有许多工作要做。“我们还需要可用的通信链路、参与运营商的许可、安全传输、资源调度，以及当计算机连接不可用时的恢复机制。”

Satlyt is also researching applications beyond low Earth orbit, including supporting 4K video streaming from the Moon through its NASA-funded work. “Our next technical steps are broader validation and integration, followed by demonstrations of computing work shared across separate spacecraft,” he said.

Satlyt 还在研究低地球轨道之外的应用，包括通过其 NASA 资助的工作支持从月球进行 4K 视频流传输。他说：“我们接下来的技术步骤是更广泛的验证和集成，随后是跨不同航天器共享计算工作的演示。”

“Longer term, we want developers to build applications for space without having to rebuild the infrastructure for every mission. That’s what virtual AI data centers in space mean to us.”

“从长远来看，我们希望开发人员能够构建太空应用程序，而不必为每个任务重建基础设施。这就是太空虚拟人工智能数据中心对我们的意义。”