Rama Afullo, a Kenyan American engineer, previously worked in Google's cloud computing business before a brief stint at SpaceX's Starlink network in 2024. He told TechCrunch he tried to pitch the idea of orbital data centers internally at both companies but was turned down. After leaving SpaceX, he co-founded Satlyt, which has headquarters in Sunnyvale, California, and Nairobi.
Unlike SpaceX, Google, or startups like Starcloud and Cowboy Space Company, Satlyt is not building its own spacecraft. Instead, it is creating software to operate AI models on satellites, comparing its approach to platforms like VMWare and Snowflake, which let users run complex software without managing the underlying infrastructure.
"The folks like SpaceX who are doing orbital data centers — if they are the iPhone, we'll build Android as a horizontally integrated, open ecosystem," Afullo said.
Satlyt has already flown its software on two demonstration missions. Earlier this year, it deployed Google DeepMind's Gemma AI model on a spacecraft operated by Momentus. The model reduced the size of a transmission about onboard software errors by more than 60%. Afullo says such efficiencies can save satellite operators hundreds of thousands of dollars per year by reducing the need to send data back to Earth, or downlink, which is expensive and slow.
This week's launch will put Satlyt's software to work on a spacecraft built by TakeMe2Space, an Indian startup that builds computing hardware for satellites. The mission has three customers: NASA, which is paying to test protocols for cloud computing in space; Stellerian, a startup focused on space surveillance that wants to test image processing workloads; and TakeMe2Space itself, which aims to show its satellite can host other companies' software.
The company's next project is to demonstrate a shared computing system spanning two different satellites, expected next year. If successful, Satlyt could become a third-party provider of a compute cloud in orbit. "The way to think about it is that we turn your satellite into a revenue-generating managed service," Afullo said.
Satlyt's seed round was led by Houston-based Non Sibi Ventures. Partner Bernard Harris, a former NASA astronaut, helped ground the firm's conviction in the novel space-based business.