Satlyt, founded by a former Google and SpaceX product manager, raises $8M to run AI on satellites

Rama Afullo, a former Google and SpaceX product manager, has founded a new company called Satlyt with the goal of running AI on satellites. Afullo, who is Kenyan American, previously worked in Google's cloud computing business and at SpaceX before co-founding Satlyt. He was convinced there was untapped potential for computers in space, despite being rejected by both SpaceX and Google when he tried to pitch the idea internally.

The company has raised $8 million in seed funding. Satlyt's software will launch on a SpaceX rocket on Thursday, alongside Google's space data center effort, Project Suncatcher. Unlike SpaceX, Google, or other startups, Satlyt is not planning to build its own spacecraft. Instead, Afullo's team is focused on building software to operate AI models on satellites.

The company has already flown its software on two demonstration missions, with initial focus on operational efficiencies for spacecraft. Satlyt's software was deployed on a spacecraft operated by Momentus, which cut transmission size by over 60%, saving hundreds of thousands of dollars per satellite each year. The company's next project is to create a shared computing system, a cloud, spanning two different satellites.

If successful, this will allow Satlyt to build a true compute cloud in orbit as a third-party provider to spacecraft builders. Satlyt's seed round was led by Houston-based Non Sibi Ventures, with the help of NASA astronaut Bernard Harris. The company hopes to have its software on 20% of satellites by the end of the decade.