A systems view of
orbital compute.
The platform is not one thing. It is a tightly coupled system of power generation, thermal rejection, compute payload, and communications — each shaping the others. The diagrams below illustrate how we think about that system.
Schematic · not to scale · conceptual representation of subsystem relationships.
Six subsystems, one platform.
Each subsystem is a serious engineering problem on its own. The platform is the discipline of making them work together.
Compute payload
Modular, redundant, radiation-aware
- Server-class compute organised as serviceable modules
- Fault-tolerant design with graceful degradation at the board level
- Radiation-aware silicon selection and shielding strategy
- Incremental refresh path across platform lifetime
Power subsystem
Photovoltaic generation + power conditioning
- Large-area deployable solar arrays sized to target compute envelope
- On-board power conditioning and distribution
- Battery buffer sized for eclipse and transient handling
- Sun-tracking attitude strategy for sustained generation
Thermal subsystem
Radiative rejection, tightly coupled to compute
- Emissive radiator fields with orbit-aware orientation
- Liquid and/or two-phase thermal loops routing waste heat outward
- Thermal envelope co-designed with payload density
- Monitoring and setpoint management under varying sun-angle conditions
Communications
Uplink, downlink, and data return
- Dedicated ground-station uplink / downlink for command and data
- High-throughput data return paths for batch compute outputs
- Inter-satellite link concepts for future constellations
- Architected for latency-tolerant workloads
Command & control
Ground operations and platform telemetry
- Mission control tooling for compute scheduling and telemetry
- Safe-mode handling and autonomous fault response
- Thermal, power, and payload health observability
- Operations playbooks for eclipse, anomaly, and contingency events
Platform & structure
Mechanical backbone, launch-compatible
- Launcher-agnostic modular bus concept
- Structural design that treats payload, solar, and radiator as a coupled system
- Serviceability-aware interfaces where feasible
- Clean paths for future capacity expansion
Designed for
low-Earth orbit.
Orbital regime shapes everything — sun exposure, radiation environment, ground-station passes, debris risk, and delta-V economics. LEO is the natural starting envelope for deployable, serviceable compute platforms.