Insider Brief:
- Firefly Aerospace announced a new agreement with Klepsydra Technologies to host the Klepsydra Artificial Intelligence (AI) application on its Elytra vehicle.
- Elytra is scheduled to launch aboard the Alpha rocket in 2024.
- Klepsydra Technologies plans to leverage Elytra’s edge compute platform to test and validate its AI navigation application as part of Elytra Mission 1.
- Image credit: Firefly Aerospace
Firefly Aerospace, a leading space transportation company, announced a new agreement to host the Klepsydra Artificial Intelligence (AI) application on its Elytra vehicle. Elytra is set to launch aboard the Alpha rocket in 2024 and is designed to serve as an edge computing platform in space, enabling real-time data processing and a wide range of hosted software applications.
According to Jana Spruce, Vice President of Spacecraft at Firefly, edge computing in space is crucial for overcoming the critical bandwidth challenges associated with downlinking massive volumes of data from spacecraft to ground stations on Earth. Spruce explained that by processing data onboard, Elytra’s edge compute platform enables real-time decision-making and supports a variety of autonomous applications, such as space domain awareness, anomaly detection, and vision navigation.
Elytra’s edge compute platform is designed and built in-house at Firefly and interfaces directly with the vehicle’s core avionics. This allows it to receive payload, sensor, and camera telemetry data. The platform runs software applications as a service. As s result data is rapidly processed on orbit before the post-processed data of interest is downlinked to Firefly’s clients.
During Elytra Mission 1, Elytra will actively function as an edge computing platform for hosted software customers for up to one year on orbit. Upon detachment from Firefly’s Alpha rocket, Elytra will initiate the deployment of commercial payloads. The vehicle will also support a responsive space demonstration for the NRO, executing on-orbit maneuvers and deploying additional U.S. government payloads on demand.
Klepsydra Technologies will test and validate its AI navigation application by leveraging Elytra’s edge compute platform during Elytra Mission 1. Klepsydra’s AI models will provide real-time attitude determination, guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) by processing sensor data onboard and relaying the processed data back to Earth.
Furthermore, Klepsydra plans to deploy a second algorithm for cloud detection. This algorithm will pave the way for the company’s AI-as-a-service solution by demonstrating the ability to dynamically switch AI applications onboard.
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