NASA JPL Taps Commercial Satellite Infrastructure for On-Orbit AI Demonstrations
Loft Orbital Agreement Advances Near-Real-Time Earth Science Data Processing
A commercial space company has been selected by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory to host and fly demonstrations of artificial intelligence software designed to deliver near-real-time Earth observation data without human intervention in the processing loop.
“This collaboration with JPL represents a significant step forward in applying artificial intelligence where it matters most; in orbit, processing data in near-real time to support urgent decisions on Earth.”
Paul Lasserre, Loft Orbital
Loft Orbital will provide on-orbit infrastructure for JPL’s AI software under the Federated Autonomous MEasurement (FAME) project, funded by NASA’s Earth Science Technology Office (ESTO). Flight demonstrations are set to begin in June 2026, with additional deployments on future AI-enabled satellites planned through 2027 and 2028.
The initiative is aimed at closing the gap between satellite observation and actionable intelligence for scientists, emergency managers, and first responders responding to wildfires, flooding, and other natural disasters.
“This collaboration with JPL represents a significant step forward in applying artificial intelligence where it matters most; in orbit, processing data in near-real time to support urgent decisions on Earth,” said Paul Lasserre, General Manager, AI for Space at Loft. “Loft was built to give organizations like JPL fast, simple access to space, and we are proud to be part of NASA’s push to harness commercial infrastructure for AI-driven Earth science applications.”
JPL’s software is designed to enable autonomous tip-and-queue tasking — the ability to automatically detect an event of interest and redirect satellite assets to gather more data — without requiring ground-based command uplinks, which could dramatically shorten the time between initial observation and delivery of usable data.
Loft’s on-orbit infrastructure features a high-performance processing architecture supporting edge computing and lightweight AI application deployment. The spacecraft involved in FAME will utilize intersatellite links, enabling rapid communication with one another or with ground stations at any time.
While NASA has previously deployed AI and autonomy software in space, the FAME collaboration with Loft is intended to scale that capability and chart a path for widespread adoption of agency software on commercial satellite platforms.