Space startup Basalt Technologies creates an operating system for satellite operators called Dispatch. This operating system will give the opportunity to transfer software to different hardware, just as Windows works equally well on laptops from different manufacturers, for example, ASUS or Dell. Dispatch is able to autonomously assign tasks to spacecraft, coordinating satellites from different fleets and quickly reloading existing in-orbit facilities to perform national security tasks.
Dispatch could provide unprecedented operational flexibility in space operations. Basalt enables users to repurpose satellites or allows unrelated spacecraft to work together in orbit on the same network.
“Right now, we build space missions into the hardware, and then all the software and operations and stuff is custom from that hardware,” said Alex Choi, co-founder of the startup.
To scale its product and attract aviation technologies, the startup closed a $3.5 million round this summer, led by Initialized Capital, with the support of Y Combinator, Liquid2, General Catalyst and other venture funds. This summer, Basalt is going to “hack” the operating system of a satellite in low-Earth orbit to test its technology.
After that, the company plans to expand its team of three people and get the first income. Basalt is currently negotiating with 10 missions, which include spacecraft under development, as well as equipment already in orbit.
About Basalt Technologies
Basalt Technologies startup was founded in 2023 by Alex Choi and Maximillian Bhatti, who studied together at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Alex Choi managed to develop the first satellite bus, and then taught at the University of Toronto. Maximillian Bhatti is a talented physicist and engineer who has already worked for Aerospace Corporation and SpaceX. Now Choi and Bhatti are trying to create a universal operating system for satellites of various purposes with their startup, which will significantly reduce the cost of creating software for them, and, according to their plan, will be the next big discovery in space.
“Right now, we build space missions into the hardware, and then all the software and operations and stuff is custom from that hardware. So what Basalt is doing is trying to shift that paradigm,” says Bhatti.
Earlier, we reported on how AstroForge lost a spacecraft for mining resources on asteroids.
According to techcrunch.com
