US-based space tech firms Star Catcher Industries and Aethero have partnered to scale high-performance computing and artificial intelligence in orbit, addressing the power constraints that have limited the growth of space-based data centers.
Under a power purchase agreement, Aethero will draw electricity on demand from Star Catcher’s planned orbital energy grid. The arrangement is designed to let spacecraft access additional power when computing loads rise, without having to carry enough onboard generation and storage to cover those peaks.
The approach could also increase operational uptime and reduce the need for large power systems aboard satellites. For Aethero, which is developing infrastructure for high-performance computing in orbit, the additional power is aimed at supporting space data centers and content distribution networks that process data closer to where it is generated.
Orbital power meets demand
The need for more onboard computing is being driven in part by the growing volume of data generated by satellites. Processing that information in orbit can reduce the amount of raw data that has to be transmitted to Earth, where space-to-ground communications capacity can become a bottleneck.
Aethero is preparing to deploy its next-generation NxA-ECM compute module aboard its Titan mission in October. The system is designed to bring supercomputer- and data-center-class processing into low Earth orbit and support space-based cloud infrastructure and content distribution.
Star Catcher’s network is built around wireless optical power beaming. The company says it can harvest solar energy and beam concentrated power directly onto existing satellite solar panels, allowing spacecraft to generate up to 10 times more power on demand without installing specialized receivers.
That capability is intended to separate computing requirements from the physical limits of a spacecraft’s onboard power system. It could allow satellite operators to allocate more mass toward processors, storage and other payloads while relying on the orbital grid to handle periods of elevated demand.
Computing moves closer to orbit
The commercial agreement is Star Catcher’s 10th major customer deal for its planned orbital energy grid and brings its reported backlog to more than $60 million. The company is preparing for its first in-space power-beaming demonstration later this year, with another mission already in development.
“As we prepare to deploy our Titan mission and scale our vision to our constellation offerings, locking in the critical infrastructure necessary for long-term success is essential,” said Amit Pinnamaneni, CEO & co-founder of Aethero. “We are confident that Star Catcher is the right partner to meet our operational energy requirements, allowing us to focus entirely on building the best computers possible.”
Star Catcher co-founder and CEO Andrew Rush said power has been a recurring constraint across space infrastructure projects.
“The infrastructure we are building at Star Catcher is foundational to any future we can imagine in space, and this partnership proves that future is arriving now,” says Andrew Rush, co-founder and CEO of Star Catcher. “During my time leading space infrastructure projects at Made In Space and Redwire, the primary wall we kept hitting was power. That wall is now coming down.”
Star Catcher says its internal research indicates that shifting peak power requirements to its grid could produce a 1.9x to 3.5x revenue multiplication for orbital computing architectures.
Both companies expect to activate the agreement over the coming years as their respective orbital networks expand.