Today, Little Place Labs is announcing that we are teaming up with Loft Orbital (Loft) to push the boundaries of real-time data processing and insight delivery. We’ll pair Loft’s low-latency operations, using its space infrastructure, with our cutting-edge analytics to enhance maritime domain awareness under a US Air Force Phase 2 STTR by deploying our software to Loft’s YAM-6 satellite as a virtual mission.
The demand for real-time, onboard processing and low-latency insight delivery is growing across sectors for applications from wildfire response and national security to environmental or asset monitoring. Traditionally, obtaining actionable information from satellites involves a multi-step process lasting several hours: data collection, transmission to ground stations, processing, and then delivery. As a result, data and insights are often delivered too late to be actionable where it truly matters.
Enter edge-computing and low-latency communications. At Little Place Labs, we specialize in near real-time space analytics for terrestrial and space applications, leveraging AI to derive critical insights. We remove the data bottleneck by processing raw data on orbit immediately after collection, and the latency bottleneck via high availability communications links via inter-satellite relay. Together, these solutions enhance response times and decision-making for threats against civilians, national assets, and our guardians, as well as unlock new commercial applications.
“Our on-orbit data processing solutions, paired with Loft’s satellite platform, allow us to derive and deliver insights in near real-time for time-sensitive situations,” said Bosco Lai, co-founder and CEO of Little Place Labs. “These insights are critical to commercial and national security stakeholders, including those in the US government. This collaboration highlights the new space age, where companies like Little Place Labs and Loft come together, integrating our solutions into powerful capabilities.”
Loft will deploy Little Place Labs’ applications to its constellation of satellites, with each satellite node equipped with an array of sensing resources, from visible and infrared imagers to configurable software-defined radios (SDRs). These satellite nodes make up Loft’s space infrastructure, each including onboard edge compute and connectivity resources to complement its sensing capabilities. This infrastructure is used to build and complete complex missions such as the low-latency maritime domain awareness application we’re working on, without having to deploy any new hardware.
“We are proud to support customers like Little Place Labs in pushing the limits of what’s possible with low latency applications and onboard edge compute,” said Mitchell Scher, Director of Business Development at Loft. “While we’re providing the infrastructure to support these kinds of low-latency operations, it is only as useful as the applications our customers deploy and the operational value they produce for their end users.”
Together, Little Place Labs and Loft Orbital are paving the way for a new era of rapid-response capabilities in space, showcasing the potential for real-time data solutions to transform industries and address pressing challenges on Earth.
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