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Open Cosmos and ESA launch AI app-powered satellite

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Open Cosmos has launched Phisat-2 (Φsat2), a 6U CubeSat designed to demonstrate the benefits of using Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Earth observation.

Liftoff for ESA’s Φsat-2 satellite
Liftoff for ESA’s Φsat-2 satellite - ESA

The launch took place on 16 August, 2024 at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, with Phisat-2 launching alongside other satellites onboard SpaceX's Falcon 9.

The Phisat-2 satellite combines a multispectral camera with a computer that allows AI apps to run onboard, via the NanoSat MO Framework (NMF). This framework has been developed specifically for small satellites and allows the apps to be installed, updated and operated remotely from Earth.

ESA, who named Oxfordshire-based Open Cosmos as the mission’s prime contractor, said the satellite measures just 22 x 10 x 33cm and carries a multispectral instrument that images Earth in seven different bands (plus a panchromatic band) in the visible to near-infrared part of the electromagnetic spectrum.

While AI has already proved invaluable for analysing terabytes of satellite data, Open Cosmos said that most of this AI processing takes place on the ground, after the data has been downloaded; the Phisat-2 mission instead allows this to happen directly at source.

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Phisat-2 satellite
Earth observation satellite