Bengaluru-based KaleidEO becomes first Indian firm to deploy edge computing in space

Bengaluru-based deep tech player SatSure Analytics' India subsidiary KaleidEO has become the first Indian firm to deploy edge computing in space by successfully generating actionable insights from an image taken by an orbiting satellite in real-time.

Edge computing allows for data generated to be analysed at source, be it a factory floor, utility, smart city, retail store, booking platform, or – as in KaleidEO’s case – outer space. Usually, raw data is sent to a central data centre for further processing and analysis.

This demonstration helps establish KaleidEO’s competency to analyse satellite imagery in space as well as gives a boost to its plans of sending four edge-computing capable Lower Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites into space in 2025.

Rashmit Singh Sukhmani, co-founder and CTO of SatSure said, “This capability will enable us to address national security needs, real-time disaster response by governments and revolutionise the way we collect, process, analyse and downlink imagery and insights from satellite data.”

KaleidEO has built edge algorithms for cloud detection, road network and building footprint identification, water-body detection, and image template matching for change detection.

In an interview with Business Today, Lt Gen (Retd.) Anil Kumar Bhatt, Director General of the apex Indian Space Association had urged 150 spacetech startups to develop such cutting-edge spacetech applications in India.  "If critical applications based on remote sensing have their shutter control in some other nation, then maybe in situations such as war access to them can be either restricted or outrightly disallowed. Therefore, the capability has to be from an indigenous source or a source operating from Indian soil."

The successful demonstration of deep learning algorithms by KaleidEO involved two other geographies. The imagery was captured by Montevideo (Uruguay)-based satellite constellation and data provider firm Satellogic. The hardware to run the algorithms and implementation support was provided by KaleidEO’s Australian partner Spiral Blue.

Faster processing of data

A novel engineering pipeline for the seamless and fast processing of data by up to 80 per cent was built as part of the demo to significantly reduce the downlink cost. The company has also claimed to be among the very few firms in the world to have conducted the demonstration on sub-meter resolution imagery because of the challenges of handling larger-sized images.

"With this technological advancement, we are not only propelling India onto the global stage but also empowering governments and industries to make informed decisions by increasing the value of information generated per bit,” said Arpan Kumar Sahoo, COO at KaleidEO.

The company is now looking at the aerial testing of its high-resolution high-swath optical and multi-spectral payload in October, whose success would lead to commencing manufacturing of satellites and their payloads for next year’s launch.

Founded in 2017, SatSure recently announced closing its Series A financing round for $15 million, a major portion of which would be invested in KaleidEO. The round was led by Baring Private Equity Partners India and Promus Ventures with participation from Omidyar Network India and xto10X. Other investors include ICICI Bank, HDFC, and Kotak Mahindra Bank, along with Force Ventures, Luckbox Ventures, and IndigoEdge Advisors.

Also Read: Ready for lift-off: Why India's space tech ecosystem will require more govt interventions