Astranis Space Technologies Selects Wind River OS for Satellite

Wind River, a company deploying IoT software for critical infrastructure, has announced that satellite startup Astranis Space Technologies Corp. is using its VxWorks real-time operating system for a Astranis satellite designed to deliver high-speed internet to underserved markets.

Over half of the world doesn't have access to the internet and satellites can play a major role in providing it. Astranis is building satellites designed to deliver broadband internet services, targeting areas where, due to the high cost of building the infrastructure, broadband internet isn't widely available or is completely unavailable.

Astranis reportedly is using VxWorks to run the main flight computer that controls the avionics in guiding the satellite and keeping it in communication with Earth. Astranis recently announced that its first satellite will be going over Alaska, in partnership with Alaska-based internet provider Pacific Dataport.

“We are very excited to be working with Wind River on our first satellite. Wind River’s proven success in space and their long standing relationship with NASA and others in the space industry gives us confidence that they are the right partner to bring our vision to life,” said John Gedmark, CEO and cofounder, Astranis.

“Wind River has decades of leadership in space, and we are thrilled that Astranis selected Wind River software to power its ground-breaking technology that will bring the unconnected world online,” said Ray Petty, VP, aerospace and defense, Wind River. “It is gratifying to serve as a core innovation enabler, helping companies like Astranis accelerate development, reduce costs, and ultimately bring game-changing technology to the market.”

Wind River’s software portfolio for the edge is designed to support customers in aerospace and defense, from design to development to deployment, with technologies that span across real-time operating systems, open-source-based platforms, system simulation and virtualization.

In addition to VxWorks for safety and security environments, the company offers Wind River Linux and other commercial-grade open source technologies for general purpose functions. The recently launched Wind River Helix Virtualization Platform is for consolidating multiple federated systems with both safety-critical and general purpose applications onto a single compute platform. And for system simulation enabling unmodified target software to run on a virtual platform the same way it does on physical hardware, the company offers Wind River Simics.