Astranis Selects VxWorks® Real-Time Operating System for Its Next-Generation Satellite

Wind River®, a leading provider of software for the Internet of Things (IoT) for critical infrastructure, announced that satellite startup Astranis Space Technologies is using the VxWorks® real-time operating system for its next-generation satellites to deliver cost-effective, high-speed internet access to unserved markets.

More than half of the world's population still lacks Internet access, and satellites are expected to play an important role in solving this problem. Astranis is building satellites that can provide broadband Internet services to individual users around the world. Its coverage targets areas where broadband Internet is not widely available or completely unavailable due to high infrastructure construction costs.

Astranis uses VxWorks to manage the satellite's main flight computer, control the avionics on board, guide it and keep it connected to the earth. Astranis recently announced that its first satellite will be deployed over Alaska, USA, in cooperation with Pacific Dataport, the state's Internet provider.

“We are excited to be working with Wind River on our first satellite,” said John Gedmark, CEO and co-founder of Astranis. “Wind River’s success in space and long history of working with NASA and other space agencies gives us confidence that they are the right partner to help us realize our vision.”

“Wind River has been a leader in space for decades, and we are delighted that Astranis has selected our software to power its groundbreaking technology, which will connect the unconnected to the connected world,” said Ray Petty, vice president of Wind River’s Aerospace and Defense Market. “As a core innovation enabler, it is rewarding to help companies like Astranis accelerate development, reduce costs, and ultimately bring game-changing technologies to market.”

Wind River has launched a comprehensive set of software products for the network edge, providing full-range support for complex and diverse engineering projects in the aerospace and defense fields, from design to development to deployment and operation, with rich and diverse technology configurations, including real-time operating systems, open source-based platforms, system simulation and virtualization.

For functional safety and information security environments, Wind River not only provides the market-leading VxWorks, but also Wind River Linux and other commercial-grade open source technologies for general functions. The recently launched Wind River Helix Virtualization Platform is suitable for the centralization of multiple federal systems, and can merge safety-critical applications and general applications onto the same computing platform. For system simulation, that is, to support unmodified target software to run on a virtual software platform in a way that is completely the same as physical hardware, Wind River provides Wind River Simics.