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

Satlyt, a startup co-founded by Rama Afullo, a former Google and SpaceX product manager, has raised $8 million in seed funding to develop software that enables AI processing on satellites. Afullo, who previously worked at Google and SpaceX, pitched the idea of orbital data centers but faced rejections from both companies. Satlyt’s software is set to launch on a SpaceX rocket alongside Google’s Project Suncatcher, aiming to create an open ecosystem for satellite computing. The company’s approach is compared to VMWare and Snowflake, offering a platform for users to run complex software without managing the underlying infrastructure. Satlyt has already tested its software on a spacecraft operated by Momentus, reducing data transmission by over 60%. The company plans to expand its capabilities by creating a shared computing system across satellites, with a target of being live on 20% of satellites by the end of the decade. Non Sibi Ventures led the seed round, citing the potential of satellite computing without the need for full orbital data centers. Afullo emphasized the importance of GPUs on satellites, stating that omitting them would be a disservice to spacecraft builders.