Uppsala, 6 Juy 2026 – Rapidity Space has been selected by the European Space Agency (ESA) to lead Project VORTEX (Unlocking High-Level Space Application Programming of the AI Engines in Versal-Class On-Board Computing), a research initiative exploring how future spacecraft can more efficiently exploit advanced heterogeneous computing platforms for artificial intelligence and high-performance onboard data processing.
As satellites become increasingly autonomous, onboard software must process larger volumes of data while making intelligent decisions in real time. Emerging heterogeneous computing platforms, such as AMD Versal™ adaptive devices, offer exceptional performance by combining processors, programmable logic and dedicated AI Engines. However, their complexity has limited their adoption in space applications.
Through Project VORTEX, Rapidity Space will investigate a compiler-centric approach that enables high-level software development while automatically targeting the AI Engines. Representative space workloads including neural network inference, computer vision and image pre-processing will be used to evaluate how this approach can improve performance, portability and development efficiency compared with traditional programming methods.
The project will help establish a more efficient and scalable software development workflow for heterogeneous onboard computing, enabling future space missions to exploit advanced AI hardware with significantly lower development effort.
