• SkyServe partners with NASA’s JPL and D-Orbit to enhance Earth observation through AI-driven satellite technology.
  • The collaboration integrates edge computing for real-time monitoring of wildfires, floods, and urban heat islands, with AI models deployed on D-Orbit’s ION Satellite Carrier.

Bengaluru-based space tech company SkyServe is collaborating with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and space logistics firm D-Orbit to enhance Earth observation capabilities through artificial intelligence (AI) and edge computing.

The partnership focuses on optimizing and deploying AI models developed under NASA’s New Observations Strategies (NOS) initiative on D-Orbit’s ION Satellite Carrier.

This effort aims to integrate space-borne, terrestrial, and airborne sensors to enable near-real-time monitoring of natural disasters such as wildfires, floods, and urban heat islands.

The collaboration emphasizes the use of edge computing to refine AI models across various sensor configurations. SkyServe’s STORM, an edge-computing platform for satellites, facilitates the deployment of AI applications in orbit, while its SURGE software suite provides a ground-based environment for testing and developing these models before deployment.

Vishesh Vatsal, Chief Technology Officer at SkyServe, highlighted the role of the company’s technology in ensuring seamless AI deployment across different satellite platforms.

“SkyServe’s technology plays a pivotal role in streamlining AI model deployment across diverse satellite platforms, ensuring consistency and efficiency,” he said.

D-Orbit’s ION satellite platform supports this initiative by providing the necessary infrastructure for integrating Edge AI with satellite systems. The technology aims to improve emergency response times by enabling various applications, including wildfire detection and tracking of unregistered ships.

By simulating space-based environments, SURGE ensures that AI models remain operationally consistent across different satellite platforms and computing conditions. This capability is expected to enhance global monitoring and decision-making in disaster management and scientific research.

The partnership is part of a broader initiative to push the boundaries of space technology and improve real-time data processing in orbit.

SkyServe has been working on AI-powered Earth observation technologies for some time. In May last year, the company successfully achieved Smart Earth Imaging in orbit, demonstrating the ability to generate rapid insights from space-based data.

The month prior, it collaborated with D-Orbit to deploy STORM on a satellite launched by SpaceX. During an imaging session over Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, STORM performed real-time tasks such as error correction, cloud and water removal, and vegetation identification. The processed data was then transmitted back to Earth with a fivefold reduction in size.

Edited by Harshajit Sarmah