Sophia Space says it has closed a $10 million seed financing round to accelerate the development of orbital computing systems that could serve as the foundation for space-based data processing.
The startup’s tabletop-sized satellite modules take advantage of a proprietary system that combines solar power generation and radiative cooling. Multiple tiles can be connected into racks to provide scalable computing power in low Earth orbit. The infrastructure concept is called Thermal-Integrated LEO Edge, or TILE.
“With this seed round, we’re not just building compute modules,” Sophia Space CEO Rob DeMillo said today in a news release. “We’re building the infrastructure for the next era of space-based AI and data processing.”
The investment round was led by Alpha Funds, KDDI Green Partners Fund and Unlock Venture Partners — and builds upon $3.5 million in pre-seed investment. The newly raised cash will support the continued hiring of engineering talent, the further maturation of Sophia’s TILE platform and the formation of strategic partnerships in the orbital computing ecosystem.
Sophia Space is based in Pasadena, Calif., and was founded by Leon Alkalai, a former fellow at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory who now serves as the company’s chief technology officer. But the venture has a Pacific Northwest connection in chief growth officer Brian Monnin, who worked at Intel and Microsoft before founding Seattle startups Play Impossible and Quivr.
In-space computing is increasingly gaining attention because of the potential for launching orbital data centers for artificial intelligence applications.
Orbital data centers could address some of the major challenges surrounding terrestrial data centers, such as the need for land and electrical power. But finding a way to cool data center satellites amid the vacuum of space poses its own technical challenge. Sophia’s founders say the company’s TILE architecture, combined with the placement of satellites in orbits around Earth’s day-night terminator, can address the cooling challenge.
Sophia Space is planning to conduct in-space demonstrations of its software with an existing communications network later this year.
DeMillo told GeekWire that the company is planning to start with edge computing applications — for example, doing on-orbit processing of imaging data collected by Earth observation satellites. “Until we get to the level where we’re going to be putting up our own orbital data centers, selling these as edge computers allows income to flow into the company and gets our name out there, and allows us to refine things going forward,” he said.
He said Sophia Space is planning to deliver its first TILE modules to customers in 2028.
