Indian start-up to launch orbital computing satellite aboard SpaceX rocket
What's the story
Indian space start-up TakeMe2Space is gearing up to launch what it describes as the country's first orbital computing satellite. The mission, which will be conducted by SpaceX, is set for October 1. The MOI-1A spacecraft, weighing less than 50kg and equipped with NVIDIA's Orin NX edge-computing processors, will be part of SpaceX's Transporter-18 rideshare mission.
Customer base
23 customers have signed up for the service
TakeMe2Space has already secured 23 customers for its upcoming mission. These include geographic information system companies and educational institutions.
The commercial users of this service span across agriculture, mining, supply-chain management, and insurance sectors, Founder and CEO Ronak Samantray told Reuters.
US-based space data analytics firm Little Place Labs is also one of the clients on board this project.
Data processing
How will MOI-1A spacecraft work?
The MOI-1A satellite will allow customers to upload containerized AI models.
It can then process this data as it flies over a specific area and send the analysis back to Earth, instead of the entire underlying dataset.
This capability is expected to reduce costs by eliminating the need for downloading large amounts of raw data and performing computations on Earth.
Future goals
Aim to build bigger networked satellites in future
TakeMe2Space envisions building bigger, networked satellites that can cater to multiple customers.
The start-up's previous tech-demonstration mission in late 2024 proved its capability to upload apps, conduct AI inference in orbit, and download results.
However, a subsequent satellite named MOI-1 was lost due to a launch vehicle third-stage failure.
Storage services
TakeMe2Space also plans to provide cold storage in orbit
TakeMe2Space also plans to provide cold storage in orbit for critical data.
This service would be aimed at financial services and defense customers looking for an extra backup location apart from terrestrial cloud providers.
The company mostly designs and builds satellite subsystems in India but sources chips, solar cells, and propulsion systems externally.