Satlyt raises $8M to run AI on satellites
Satlyt, founded by former Google and SpaceX product manager Rama Afullo, has raised an $8 million seed round led by Non Sibi Ventures. The startup develops open software to run AI models on satellites, aiming to become the 'Android of orbital computing' through a horizontally integrated ecosystem. After two successful demonstration missions, Satlyt's software is launching on a SpaceX rocket alongside Google's Project Suncatcher, and has already deployed Google's Gemma AI model on a Momentus spacecraft, cutting data transmission size by over 60%. The upcoming mission will run software on a TakeMe2Space satellite with customers NASA, Stellerian, and TakeMe2Space. Satlyt's long-term goal is to create a shared computing cloud across multiple satellites, targeting presence on 20% of satellites by the end of the decade.