Press Release: Aethero and Antmicro form a strategic partnership for the creation of high-performance space-rated modular edge computers using open source

Mountain View, CA, 15th July 2024 — Today, at the IEEE Space Mission Challenges for Information Technology and Space Computing Conference hosted by NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a strategic partnership was announced between Aethero, a disruptive designer and manufacturer of space-rated high-end computers, and Antmicro, a technology company driving change in advanced computing systems development with open source. By joining forces, they will collaborate in the rapid development of flight-ready, state-of-the-art modular edge computers, which enables satellites to perform computationally heavy data processing in space without having to send all of their data to the ground.

The announcement follows a successful cooperation around the Aethero NxN Edge Computing Module, the company’s first space-rated computer for computationally-intensive tasks with real time decision-making capability. The NxN is due to launch on the SpaceX Falcon-9 Transporter-11 rideshare from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California - going from initial concept to launch within a single year, Aethero was able to leverage the rapid turnaround enabled with Antmicro’s comprehensive product design services based on open source tools and create the first space edge computer to achieve 100 TOPS of compute power by using commercially available NVIDIA Jetson platforms.

The Aethero NxN Edge Computing Module is a radiation hardened and versatile compute platform which has its roots in Antmicro’s open source Jetson Orin Baseboard, designed in collaboration by Aethero and Antmicro using a rapid turnaround open hardware flow including KiCad and Blender to target the smallest space platform - the CubeSat form factor, which also allows it to be compatible across a range of larger space platforms.

Antmicro provided the basis of both the Linux and Zephyr RTOS software controlling the payload, and implemented their open source RDFM framework for modular, configurable, multi-OS device OTA updates and fleet management on Aethero’s user portal to easily test, update and deploy software across the company’s platforms in a bandwidth-constrained space environment. The complete software stack for the on-board system was built and tested with Renode, Antmicro’s open source simulator, to parallelize the development process and increase testing coverage across a range of scenarios.

The partnership showcases how Aethero’s goal to bring edge and high performance computing for in-space data processing and management can be achieved with faster turnaround through vertically-integrated software and hardware co-development workflows using open source designs. The emphasis on bringing a software and automation-driven approach to all parts of the stack let Aethero and Antmicro cut down design and development time and make “concept to launch within a year” a reality.

To learn more about Aethero, visit their website at https://www.aethero.com/ and follow the company on X and LinkedIn.

For more information about Antmicro, visit their website at https://www.antmicro.com, learn more about their services at offering.antmicro.com, and follow the company on GitHub, X and LinkedIn.