Inside the world’s first AI-powered satellite — and its fight against clouds
PhiSat-1 is on a mission to monitor polar ice and soil moisture
Next steps for AI in space
PhiSat-1is currently in a commissioning phase in which all the system’s elements are being tested. But the team has already got someearly results: the first AI inference performed in-orbit.
When the commissioning period ends, a year-long operational phase will begin, with the satellite targeting certain locations on the globe and capturing, processing, and downlinking the relevant image data.
In the future, the AI model onboard could be adapted to perform a range of other tasks. Dunne believes this could lay the foundations for a “satellite as a service” model in which a satellite is deployed with AI hardware onboard that’s rented out for different uses.
“Ultimately, we think it’ll probably get to that point,” he says. “It won’t be tomorrow, but PhiSat-1 will start to prove that this is possible.”
Story byThomas Macaulay
Thomas is a senior reporter at TNW. He covers European tech, with a focus on AI, cybersecurity, and government policy.Thomas is a senior reporter at TNW. He covers European tech, with a focus on AI, cybersecurity, and government policy.
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