Antaris, the software platform provider for space, announced that the first-ever satellite fully conceived, designed and manufactured using the company’s end-to-end software is ready for launch.
The creation of the satellite, dubbed JANUS-1, involved eight organisations spanning seven countries collaborating virtually through the Antaris cloud-based platform, which features open APIs and core open source elements.
The project was completed in just ten months from concept to launch readiness with a cost savings of 75 per cent over comparable satellite missions. Based on data captured during the build, Antaris anticipates that future spacecraft missions can be ready for launch in as few as six months.
“This is a tremendous moment for the space industry,” said Antaris Co-Founder and CEO Tom Barton. “Satellite development has historically been slow and extremely costly because of proprietary hardware and software, excessive vertical integration, outdated interfaces, APIs and protocols. Antaris has changed all that. Our cloud-based platform has enabled constellation sponsors, satellite designers, component providers and manufacturers from across the globe to collaborate seamlessly to get a satellite ready for launch in just months, not years, from start to finish. Nothing like this has ever been done before.”
JANUS-1 is a 6U satellite conceived as a technical demonstration to showcase the unprecedented efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the Antaris platform and will feature five different payloads running on its SatOS satellite software once in orbit. XDLINX Labs and Ananth Technologies served as the primary manufacturing partners for the JANUS-1 satellite, with ATLAS Space Operations providing ground station services.
“The satellite industry has historically lagged behind the tech industry in adopting Software-as-a-Service models,” said Brad Bode, Chief Technology Officer of ATLAS Space Operations. “The Antaris SaaS platform is a long overdue approach to the design, simulation and operation of satellites and a perfect complement to our own GSaaS, or Ground Software as a Service, model. We’re excited to be part of the historic JANUS-1 mission.”
“Ananth Technologies is pleased to be collaborating with Antaris on this novel demonstration project,” added Dr Subba Rao Pavuluri, Chairman and Managing Director of Ananth Technologies. “We support their mission of driving collaboration across the space economy and see tremendous potential in this new approach to satellite design and operations. The build process for JANUS-1 was highly efficient even for a complex design with multiple payload providers worldwide.”
Antaris recently open-sourced its SatOS Payload Software Development Kit (SDK), enabling platform users to integrate payloads into SatOS-powered satellites effectively. Antaris released the go-satcom library to help the broader space community work with open space communications protocols.
Payload and subsystem technology providers, including AICRAFT, Netra, Morpheus Space, SayariLabs Kenya, SpeQtral, Transcelestial and Zero-Error Systems (ZES) will perform internet of things (IoT) communications, advanced experimental laser communications, radio communications and machine learning (ML) inference during orbit. A virtual twin of JANUS-1 running on Antaris TrueTwin™ technology is functional today, and the physical satellite is expected to launch into orbit from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre of India under a commercial arrangement with NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), the commercial arm of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
Antaris enabled the rapid, cost-effective production of JANUS-1 through an agile, building-block approach unique to the company’s software platform:
- The Antaris cloud-based web interface makes it easy to design and configure a production satellite from a catalogue of components, subsystems and reference designs. The platform features built-in API integrations with various providers, including ground station operators.
- TrueTwin high fidelity simulation technology enables designers to mirror and test the satellite configuration by running identical code in virtual and physical environments with API-driven access and optional hardware-in-the-loop support.
- SatOS complete software stack manages core bus responsibilities while orchestrating multitenant payloads and onboard computing with support for real-time operating systems, Linux, artificial intelligence (AI/ML) workflows and third-party applications.
- Well-documented APIs and an open-source SDK enable payload partners to quickly integrate their payloads into the platform.
Antaris co-founders Tom Barton and Karthik Govindhasamy, who previously worked in executive leadership roles at Planet Labs, created Antaris in 2021 to respond to their frustration with the exorbitant cost and timelines typically associated with satellite development. The company’s founding engineering team brings decades of prior professional experience from industry pioneers Planet Labs, Microsoft, CoreOS and Apple to Antaris.
“With thousands of satellites predicted to be launched in the next three years alone, we are facing a shortage of satellite engineering talent coupled with historic legacy waste and inefficiency across the supply chain,” noted Antaris Co-Founder and CTO Karthik Govindhasamy. “We started Antaris with a mission to eliminate that inefficiency and empower space engineering talent through a software platform designed to streamline the design, simulation and operation of satellites. We thank our partners for being our first and most enthusiastic users of Antaris software and look forward to a successful launch in the days ahead.”
