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Science

India's TakeMe2Space to launch orbital computing satellite aboard SpaceX rocket on 1 October

Indian startup TakeMe2Space will fly its MOI-1A orbital computing satellite — carrying Nvidia edge-computing processors — aboard SpaceX's Transporter-18 rideshare mission on 1 October, with 23 customers signed up to run AI models in orbit.

By Priya Raman · · 1 min read

India’s TakeMe2Space plans to launch what it describes as the country’s first orbital computing satellite aboard a SpaceX rocket on 1 October, seeking to process data in orbit rather than transmit raw information back to Earth.

The company’s MOI-1A spacecraft, a sub-50kg satellite carrying Nvidia Orin NX edge-computing processors, is scheduled to fly on SpaceX’s Transporter-18 rideshare mission.

TakeMe2Space said on Monday it has signed 23 customers for the mission, including geographic information system companies and educational institutions. Commercial users span agriculture, mining, supply-chain management and insurance, founder and CEO Ronak Samantray told Reuters. US-based space data analytics firm Little Place Labs is among its customers.

Customers will be able to upload containerised AI models to the satellite, which can process data as it passes over a specified area and transmit the analysis to Earth, rather than the full underlying dataset, Samantray said.

“The customer who sees value in our first-generation satellites is the one paying to download a lot of raw data and then do the compute,” Samantray said. “The reduction in the cost of not downloading it offsets the premium they pay for compute in orbit.”

The spacecraft is an onboard edge-computing satellite rather than a conventional data centre, with about 150 watts of power, Samantray said. The startup’s longer-term plan is to build larger, networked satellites capable of serving multiple customers, with larger satellites beginning in 2027.

TakeMe2Space’s earlier technology-demonstration mission in late 2024 validated its ability to upload applications, perform AI inference in orbit and download results. A subsequent satellite, MOI-1, was lost after a launch-vehicle third-stage failure. The company designs and manufactures most satellite subsystems in India, sourcing chips, solar cells and propulsion systems externally.

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