Satlyt, a startup co-founded by former Google and SpaceX product manager Rama Afullo, has secured $8 million in a seed funding round. The company, which maintains headquarters in Sunnyvale, California, and Nairobi, focuses on developing software that enables satellites to run AI models directly in orbit.
The platform aims to function as a horizontally integrated ecosystem, similar to Android, allowing software to operate across various satellites. Satlyt does not manufacture its own spacecraft. Instead, it provides tools for processing sensor data and resolving anomalies on-board, reducing the need for expensive and slow data downlinks to Earth.
The company has completed two demonstration missions. In one instance, deploying Google DeepMind’s Gemma model on a Momentus spacecraft reduced transmission sizes for software error reports by over 60%. Afullo estimates this efficiency could save satellite operators hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.
A new mission launching this week involves a TakeMe2Space satellite hosting workloads for NASA, Stellerian, and TakeMe2Space. The company plans to test a shared computing system spanning two satellites next year. The seed round was led by Non Sibi Ventures, with participation from former NASA astronaut Bernard Harris.
