The Fractal Lab – Part III
SatNews Editorial Analysis Before we dream of floating data centers, we must understand why the SmallSat is the only laboratory that matters. Welcome to The Fractal Lab: a three-part series on […]
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Silicon Valley to Aerospace: Code is the New Steel
Dispatch from SmallSat Symposium. Rockets still make a lot of noise, but the revolution visible at the SmallSat Symposium moves silently, digitally, and at the speed of code. For decades “metal benders”—those massive aerospace conglomerates that first weld titanium and then figure out the flight computer—have defined the space industry. That era is officially obsolete.
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Space Has a Plumbing Problem, and It’s Getting Expensive
Dispatch from SmallSat Symposium. Rockets function reliably. Satellites roll off assembly lines at scale. Yet the buzz at SmallSat Symposium in Mountain View can’t mask a sobering reality: data gets stuck on the way down.
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The Fractal Lab – Part II
In Part 2 of this series, we examine the second bottleneck facing the Orbital Data Center (ODC) : Data Gravity. We will explore why moving exabytes to and from orbit is harder than processing them, and how this specific constraint fractures the market into two mutually exclusive compute types: the high-speed "Real-Time Reduction Hub" and the massive "Batch Trainer." We will also examine other computing challenges unique to space.
Read MoreThe Fractal Lab
Before we dream of floating data centers, we must understand why the SmallSat is the only laboratory that matters. Welcome to The Fractal Lab: a three-part series on why orbital computing succeeds or fails first at 10 kilograms, not 10,000.
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The Pentagon’s Faustian Bargain: Buying Speed, Building a Monopoly
The integration of xAI serves as a proof-of-concept for the DoW’s aggressive push to modernize its regulatory framework. By treating a foundational large language model (LLM) as a modular insertion rather than a monolithic program of record, the DoW has achieved true operational velocity. This shift mirrors a broader industry move away from bespoke, manual licensing toward automated, assembly line approvals.
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House Hearing on China Tech Lead
Key Themes from China Tech Hearings Congressional hearings have consistently focused on the growing technological capabilities of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and their implications for U.S. national and […]
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UPDATE: It’s a GO! as ULA progresses towards Thursday launch of ViaSat-3 F2 mission
Satnews received an announcement just hours ago that after the challenges of getting ViaSat-3 F2 mission aloft it looks like today’s the day. The last internal announcement was on November […]
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AI, AI and AI dominates SVSW. AI is a “Supersonic Tsunami”
Silicon Valley Space Week (SVSW) opened in Mountain View on October 28 with the ‘hottest’ of hot topics under examination for its Satellite Innovation segment. Those topics covered the usual […]
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Northrop Grumman collaborates on AI-designed spacecraft propulsion element
A new physics AI model, built by Northrop Grumman and Luminary Cloud, with support from NVIDIA, could dramatically speed design of components and, one day, entire spacecraft. Using Luminary Cloud’s […]
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