Computing capability has advanced rapidly on Earth, but on-board computing in space is more challenging — as chips have to be hardened to function amid the radiation environment in space. Edward Ge, co-founder and CEO of three-year old startup Aethero, is working to tackle this challenge and enable higher computing power onboard satellites.

In this On Orbit episode, Ed explains some of the challenges with space-based computing, and why there's the push to improve on-board processing to support missions like space missile defense, space domain awareness, rendezvous and proximity (RPO) operations and even future targets like orbital data centers. He sees the space industry in the midst of a transition where on-board processing will become the default, rather than the exception.