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A satellite just learned to find things on its own — here’s what that means
For the first time, an Earth observation satellite has autonomously identified areas of interest using a vision-language model (VLM) without human analysts on the ground. The milestone occurred in April aboard Loft Orbital’s YAM-9 spacecraft, launched in fall 2025. A software package built by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, called NAVI-Orbital, harnessed Google DeepMind’s Gemma 3 VLM—a model designed for edge applications on limited hardware. The VLM combines contextual understanding with image analysis, responding to natural language queries such as classifying intersections of natural and human environments or identifying infrastructure near railway hubs. The demonstration marks the first reported use of a VLM in orbit. In the near term, it enables satellites to perform initial data triage, reducing the flood of raw data sent to Earth. Longer term, it proves the feasibility of running larger-scale AI in space, potentially enabling "always-on patrol layers" that monitor borders or detect suspicious activity. Loft Orbital’s head of AI, Paul Lasserre, emphasized the capability for interactive logic with satellites. Loft’s spacecraft serve as platforms for third-party customers, akin to infrastructure-as-a-service. YAM-9 includes an Nvidia Jetson Orin AGX GPU, a leading chip for space compute. NAVI-Orbital’s development was led by NASA JPL’s Juan Delfa Victoria, who streamlined Gemma 3’s libraries and memory for orbital use. Other companies are following suit: Planet Labs flies Jetson Orin processors for object detection and researches VLMs; Kepler Communications, with the largest space GPU fleet, notes undisclosed compute use cases since January. Loft aims to build a constellation of 50–100 such satellites for real-time global coverage (currently 12 in orbit). Lessons from small-model deployment will inform larger-scale space compute, particularly in power and memory management. The concept originated from JPL’s work on digital assistants for astronauts exploring the moon or Mars, providing an interactive AI akin to video game assistants.