Multi-Spacecraft On-orbit Space Computing Testbed

The future of High-Performance Space Computing (HPSC) promises collaborative decision making and dynamic load sharing across distributed spacecraft, but NASA and the HPSC industry lack an off-world platform needed to rapidly develop and test these capabilities at scale. EarthTraq proposes developing a standalone HPSC testbed into our low-cost small satellite clusters, leveraging our fully funded 4-satellite mission launching in early 2026 as an over-the-air development sandbox needed by the industry. Each low-Earth orbit (LEO) spacecraft, flying in tight formation (<100 km apart), will host a dedicated hardware/firmware/software HPSC testbed for digital signal processing (DSP) and artificial intelligence (AI) coprocessors. This will enable first-of-its-kind advancements in performance, energy efficiency, scalability, versatility, and resilience of emerging HPSC technologies in a cooperative multi-spacecraft environment. In this Phase I proposal, EarthTraq will develop & prototype the hardware/firmware/software necessary to provide a "sandboxed" testbed using open interface standards for a flexible platform to meet evolving needs. The testbed will be evaluated and integrated into our flight avionics, likely with a Mentium coprocessor or Microchip PIC64-HPSC MPU, onboard each of the four spacecraft. Planned Phase II activities: proton, vibe, and TVAC testing, providing NASA with over-the-air access to the orbital testbed for rapid software iteration, demo coprocessor-based DSP offloading for primary mission tasks, cluster-wide collaborative AI/DSP processing to optimize thermal & power constraints, cluster-wide “tip and cue” activities. Target markets include NASA Exploration, Science, and Space groups looking to eval AI models & distributed autonomy software, HPSC manufacturers seeking flight heritage, commercial & government teams looking for real-world benchmark opportunities or to demonstrate HPSC superiority.