The commercial space industry is populated with new services and applications that would’ve been unimaginable even 20 years ago. None of this new activity would be possible without a robust computing infrastructure — including processors and storage systems — that ensure that satellites can communicate with Earth, and each other.
But there are limitations to in-space computational capabilities, mainly due to the power requirements of data processing — at least, that’s according to Ramon.Space, a company that wants to level-up compute with a suite of radiation-hardened products with low power requirements, but no subsequent sacrifice in computation levels.
To scale its advanced computing products, the company announced today that it has raised $26 million from Ingrasys, a Foxconn Technology Group subsidiary, and the United Arab Emirates’ Strategic Development Fund. Existing investors Grove Ventures, Deep Insight and UMC Capital also participated.
Ramon.Space, which has offices in California and Israel, develops software-based computing systems for space that allow data to be processed, stored or moved to Earth or another spacecraft. Its technology has been used in 50 space missions, including missions with NASA and the European Space Agency, and “a few hundred” satellites, a Ramon.Space spokesperson told TechCrunch.
The nine-year-old company’s products include systems for processing, storage and communication. Earlier this month, Ramon.Space announced a manufacturing agreement with Ingrasys to establish what the two companies say will be “the industry’s first high-volume space computing products” production line.
“Space-grade computing solutions have become an essential foundation for the evolution of the space economy,” Avi Shabtai, CEO of Ramon.Space, said in a statement. “The demand from satellite manufacturers, operators and service providers for such solutions is growing, driven by new business models and a goal to maintain agility of services in orbit. This new investment will allow Ramon.Space to scale its organization to meet market needs.”