Hyderabad-based start-up to launch AI lab in space in December

A Hyderabad-based start-up is set to launch an artificial intelligence lab in space on board ISRO's PSLV rocket next month, the company said here on Tuesday.

TakeMe2Space, a space technology firm based in Hyderabad, said its 'Orbital Infrastructure - Technology Demonstrator'(MOI-TD), billed as India's first AI lab in space, will demonstrate real-time data processing in orbit, making space research more affordable and accessible.

The MOI-TD launch is scheduled for mid-December aboard ISRO's PSLV C60 mission.

Satellites capture petabytes of data daily, of which up to 40 per cent is potentially unusable due to cloud cover or other factors, which has to be transmitted to Earth for processing.

By processing data directly in space, MOI-TD delivers the relevant insights to users, drastically lowering both the cost of data transmission and latency, said Ronak Kumar Samantray, founder and CEO of TakeMe2Space.

Users can access the satellite platform through OrbitLab, a web-based console to upload AI models for applications such as environmental monitoring, deforestation tracking, maritime activity observation, greenhouse gas emission detection and custom earth observation use cases.

The satellite-as-a-service platform has already secured its inaugural research partners, including a leading Malaysian university and an enterprising group of 9th and 10th graders from an Indian school, demonstrating the potential for democratising space research.
The mission represents a significant step towards building data centres in space, the company said.

While the current mission focuses on Earth observation applications, the technology paves the way for future space-based computing capabilities that could support a wide range of applications, similar to current cloud computing services.

All testing and evaluation of the MOI-TD platform was facilitated by the IN-SPACe Technical Center. IN-SPACe, the single window government agency for all space sector activities of private entities, played a key role in accelerating the development of the platform.

MOI-TD includes control software and hardware components, including reaction wheels, magnetorquers, an advanced onboard computer, and an AI accelerator. The satellite also features flexible solar cells that could power future satellites, a company statement said.