Satlyt raises $8 million to run AI on satellites

Rama Afullo's path to Satlyt runs through two of the most prominent names in tech. He worked in Google's cloud computing business and had a brief stint at SpaceX's Starlink in 2024. At both companies, he pitched the idea of computers in space and was turned down, which led him to leave and co-found Satlyt with headquarters in Sunnyvale, California, and Nairobi.

The timing now looks different. SpaceX has since gone all-in on orbital data centers, and Satlyt's software is set to launch Thursday on a SpaceX rocket alongside the first prototype for Google's Project Suncatcher. Unlike SpaceX, Google, or startups like Starcloud and Cowboy Space Company, Satlyt isn't building its own spacecraft, positioning itself instead as a software layer that works across many companies' satellites.

The $8 million seed round was led by Houston-based Non Sibi Ventures. Partner Bernard Harris, a former NASA astronaut, helped ground the firm's conviction, and partner Kent Lucas noted that Satlyt doesn't depend on the highest-octane vision of space data centers, which faces uncertain economics and a launch bottleneck. Whether Satlyt's bet pays off likely hinges on how many satellites go up carrying GPUs and similar processors, and on whether its planned shared compute cloud across two satellites works when attempted next year; if it does, Satlyt could become a third-party compute provider to spacecraft builders.