Astronomy Prints 🌌: Editor's Choice: Processors, software and cybersecurity

07/29/2026

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By Mike Gruss

SpaceNews’ Sandra Erwin scored an exclusive recently on Intel developing a new processor that excels on orbit.

Here’s how the story begins:

Intel Corp., one of the world’s largest semiconductor companies, has spent the past several years quietly developing a processor for satellites as the company looks to tap growing demand for onboard artificial intelligence and data processing in a market long served by specialized aerospace chip makers.

The processor, still undergoing testing, is designed for resilient, high-power performance in space — an environment too harsh and unforgiving for most hardware.

The new processor, named Starfire, is expected to initially be available to customers by the end of the year. Intel leaders expect it will be attractive to satellite customers.

From Sandra's story:

The company says the processor incorporates hardware and software features intended to mitigate radiation effects and is designed for missions lasting more than a decade.

A system-on-chip, or SoC, combines several computing functions in a single package. Unlike traditional satellite computers that may rely on separate chips for different tasks, Starfire integrates a central processing unit with graphics, neural and image processing capabilities. That would allow spacecraft to perform more sophisticated AI workloads while reducing the size, weight and power required onboard.

Readers may remember in March, the technology company NVIDIA announced it also wants to take an expanded role in space computing.

Nvidia unveiled a computing module designed for space missions and potential orbital data centers. The California-based company said that it is developing the Space-1 Vera Rubin Module, a computing system intended to bring more powerful AI processing to satellites and other space platforms.

Both the Intel and Nvidia stories fall along recurring trend lines.

The first is that speed matters. For years, customers who rely on space for information have said they don’t want data, they want intelligence. Meaning, they want information they can act on (read: already processed in orbit), not massive spreadsheets or databases or image libraries. Both of these moves show the value of speed.

But there’s a second trend as well, which is that as the space industry moves away from largely being the domain of rockets and satellites, the contracts and topics more commonly seen with IT modernization projects are becoming more notable.

Cybersecurity is being taken more seriously by government and industry leaders than ever before.

Space-related software contracts are receiving more attention, in part because they’re worth more. One of our better read stories this week was about Sphinx Defense winning a $287 million contract to develop ground software for the next generation of military satellite communications, including those that will underpin the nation’s strategic nuclear command, control and communications system.

For an upcoming feature, one space startup executive told us that the inside of a satellite best resembles the inside of a desktop computer.

In the early 1990s, Intel’s slogan was “Intel inside.” It may be increasingly true of satellites as well.

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SIGNIFICANT DIGIT

25

The number of major projects in development at NASA that reported feeling the effects of last year’s departure of civil servants through deferred retirement programs, according to the Government Accountability office.

According to Kuva Space data, as many as 97% of vessels moving through the Strait of Hormuz had disabled AIS transponders by March 29, one month after the blockade was formally imposed. Credit: Kuva

AN IMAGERY DELAY

Earlier this year, several American Earth observation providers restricted access to imagery tied to Iran and surrounding conflict areas.

On April 4, Planet Labs said it would indefinitely withhold imagery of Iran and the wider Middle East conflict region in response to a request from the Trump administration. The move followed similar restrictions by Vantor — formerly Maxar — and Satellogic, which added Iran to a list of areas subject to enhanced due diligence and limits on general commercial sales.

But what about the European Space Agency’s Copernicus program?

In May, ESA officials told SpaceNews that the agency had not received increased requests for Copernicus data related to media queries nor requests to stop operations.

But this week SpaceNews reported that the European Union has ordered a 24-hour delay in the release of some Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 imagery following a request from the United States based on concerns that the Earth observation satellites’ output could pose a security risk.

A new Council of the EU decision requires the European Commission to apply the delay to a “specific geographical area forming part of the Gulf of Oman.” An annex to the decision defines that area using five sets of latitude and longitude coordinates that encompass shipping routes leading to and from the Strait of Hormuz, a region relevant to the U.S.’s war against Iran.

Trending This Week

United Launch Alliance’s corporate parents have guaranteed loans to the company as it addresses “financial challenges” caused by the grounding of its Vulcan Centaur rocket.

NASA evacuated the Madrid Deep Space Communications Complex, one of three main ground stations for the Deep Space Network. The evacuation was prompted by a major wildfire in the region.

Rocket Lab will establish a new launch site in Alaska under a $266 million U.S. Space Force contract for up to 18 suborbital missions, expanding the company’s role in military launch services.

Amazon has filed plans with the Federal Communications Commission for a constellation of more than 5,100 satellites that would provide direct-to-device services using Globalstar spectrum.

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