SUNNYVALE, Calif., November 3, 2026 — On October 14, Satlyt ran computing software aboard a Momentus spacecraft and received the results from orbit. The software ran on a platform hosted by DPhi Space. Satlyt developed the research libraries under a NASA Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project with NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland and the University of Houston.
The libraries help answer a practical question for spacecraft operators. When several computing tasks compete for limited capacity and contact with Earth is intermittent, where should each task run? Making those decisions onboard can reduce a spacecraft’s dependence on continuous ground contact.
“Our Phase I target was to establish proof of concept at TRL 3. We have now run the research libraries in orbit and received the results,” said Rama Ochieng Afullo, Founder & CEO of Satlyt and Principal Investigator for Phase I. “That gives us a stronger foundation for building software that helps spacecraft make computing decisions when they cannot rely on continuous contact with Earth.”
What ran in orbit
Following engineering-model testing, Satlyt ran the libraries on the orbital platform. The software evaluated three approaches to placing computing services, using a dataset with eight services, four modeled hosts and demand from four modeled users. It evaluated placement decisions at 11 points in time and returned the results to the team.
The software ran aboard one spacecraft. The four hosts were part of the evaluation scenario. The flight demonstrated that the prototype could execute in orbit and return its decisions for analysis.
What the flight establishes
The Phase I target was Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 3, or proof of concept. TRL 6 describes a system or subsystem prototype demonstrated in a relevant environment. Based on the flight results, Satlyt provisionally assesses the demonstrated hosted low-Earth-orbit software prototype at TRL 6, subject to completion of the supporting validation documentation.
“Running these libraries in orbit gives us evidence beyond the laboratory,” said Nelson Kigen Psenjen, CTO of Satlyt. “We can now use the returned results to guide the next stage of testing and development.”
About the research
NASA funded the work through the STTR Phase I contract “Autonomous QoS Optimization for Delay-Tolerant Mobile Edge Cloud and Content Delivery.” The University of Houston is Satlyt’s research institution partner. The project examines how to place computing services and when to keep copies on multiple hosts as communication opportunities and computing resources change.
Satlyt also included the research libraries in a separate software package aboard TM2Space’s MOI-1A spacecraft, which launched on October 1. The October 14 execution results reported here came from the DPhi Space-hosted platform.
About Satlyt
Satlyt develops software that enables satellite operators to deploy and manage AI and data-processing workloads onboard spacecraft. Its goal is to connect computing capacity across spacecraft so operators and developers can use it as a shared cloud in orbit.
Media contact: Satlyt Press · admin@satlyt.ai
