Satlyt, a startup building software to run artificial intelligence on satellites, has raised $8 million in seed funding as it works to bring cloud computing capabilities to spacecraft. The company, which maintains dual headquarters in Sunnyvale, California and Nairobi, is led by founder Rama Afullo, a Kenyan American engineer who previously worked in Google’s cloud computing business before joining SpaceX’s Starlink communications network in 2024.
The funding round was led by Houston-based Non Sibi Ventures, where Bernard Harris serves as a partner. Harris, who worked as a NASA astronaut for more than 20 years, helped guide the firm’s investment decision in the space-based business. His extensive experience in space operations provided valuable perspective on the commercial potential of satellite computing.
Satlyt’s software launched Thursday on a SpaceX rocket, marking a significant milestone for the company. Notably, Google’s Project Suncatcher space data center effort launched on the same rocket, highlighting the growing industry interest in orbital computing capabilities. Unlike competitors building their own spacecraft, Satlyt is focused exclusively on creating software that can operate across many different companies’ satellites.
The company has already demonstrated its technology through two previous missions. Earlier this year, Satlyt deployed Google DeepMind’s Gemma AI model onboard a Momentus spacecraft, achieving impressive results. The model successfully reduced the transmission size of data about onboard software errors by more than 60%, demonstrating the kind of efficiency gains that could translate to substantial cost savings for satellite operators.
The current launch involves three customers testing different aspects of Satlyt’s platform. NASA is paying the company to test protocols for cloud computing in space. Stellerian, a startup focused on space surveillance and tracking objects in orbit, wants to test image processing workloads. TakeMe2Space, an Indian startup that builds computing hardware for satellites and manufactured the spacecraft itself, is demonstrating that the satellite can host other companies’ software.
Afullo has set an ambitious goal for the company’s growth, hoping to have Satlyt’s software running on 20% of satellites by the end of the decade. This timeline aligns with his expectation that virtually every spacecraft builder will be incorporating advanced processors like GPUs into their satellites in the coming years.
Kent Lucas, a partner at Non Sibi Ventures, emphasized that Satlyt’s business model doesn’t depend entirely on the most ambitious visions of space data centers. The company can succeed simply by capitalizing on the increasing number of satellites being launched, each potentially needing AI capabilities to operate more efficiently and reduce costly data transmissions back to Earth.
Satlyt is also competing at TechCrunch Disrupt, taking place October 13-15 in downtown San Francisco, where the company will showcase its technology alongside other emerging startups in the space and technology sectors.
