**Aethero and Antmicro form a strategic partnership for the creation of high-performance space-rated modular edge computers using open source**  
Mountain View, CA, 15th July 2024 — Today, at the IEEE Space Mission Challenges for Information Technology and Space Computing Conference hosted by NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a strategic partnership was announced between Aethero, a disruptive designer and manufacturer of space-rated high-end computers, and Antmicro, a technology company driving change in advanced computing systems development with open source. By joining forces, they will collaborate in the rapid development of flight-ready, state-of-the-art modular edge computers, which enables satellites to perform computationally heavy data processing in space without having to send all of their data to the ground.

The announcement follows a successful cooperation around the Aethero NxN Edge Computing Module, the company’s first space-rated computer for computationally-intensive tasks with real time decision-making capability. The NxN is due to launch on the SpaceX Falcon-9 Transporter-11 rideshare from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California – going from initial concept to launch within a single year, Aethero was able to leverage the rapid turnaround enabled with Antmicro’s [comprehensive product design services based on open source tools](https://offering.antmicro.com/#/hw-product) and create the first space edge computer to achieve 100 TOPS of compute power by using commercially available NVIDIA Jetson platforms.

The Aethero NxN Edge Computing Module is a radiation hardened and versatile compute platform which has its roots in [Antmicro’s open source Jetson Orin Baseboard](https://github.com/antmicro/jetson-orin-baseboard), designed in collaboration by Aethero and Antmicro using a rapid turnaround open hardware flow including KiCad and Blender to target the smallest space platform – the CubeSat form factor, which also allows it to be compatible across a range of larger space platforms.

Antmicro provided the basis of both the Linux and Zephyr RTOS software controlling the payload, and implemented their [open source RDFM framework](https://antmicro.com/blog/2023/11/modular-configurable-multi-os-device-fleet-management-with-rdfm/) for modular, configurable, multi-OS device OTA updates and fleet management on Aethero’s user portal to easily test, update and deploy software across the company’s platforms in a bandwidth-constrained space environment. The complete software stack for the on-board system was built and tested with [Renode](https://github.com/renode/renode), Antmicro’s open source simulator, to parallelize the development process and increase testing coverage across a range of scenarios.

The partnership showcases how Aethero’s goal to bring edge and high performance computing for in-space data processing and management can be achieved with faster turnaround through vertically-integrated software and hardware co-development workflows using open source designs. The emphasis on bringing a software and automation-driven approach to all parts of the stack let Aethero and Antmicro cut down design and development time and make “concept to launch within a year” a reality.

Aethero and Antmicro look forward to a long and productive partnership in bringing about a new era of advanced edge computing in the space industry.

To learn more about Aethero, visit their website at [Aethero](/content/site-root.html) and follow the company on [X](https://twitter.com/aetherospace) and [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/aethero-space).

For more information about Antmicro, visit their website at [Antmicro](https://www.antmicro.com), learn more about their services at [offering.antmicro.com](http://offering.antmicro.com/), and follow the company on [GitHub](https://github.com/antmicro), [X](https://x.com/antmicro) and [LinkedIn](https://linkedin.com/company/antmicro-ltd).