Belgium-based startup EDGX announced on 11 August that it had secured €2.3 million in seed funding to develop a high-performance, AI-capable on-board computer that will process data collected by a satellite’s sensors directly in orbit.
Founded in 2023, EDGX is developing its Sterna on-board computer and the SpaceFeather software that will power it. It aims to offer high-performance edge computing for satellites, enabling the downlink of actionable insights rather than just raw data.
The company’s €2.3 million seed round was led by Belgian early-stage venture capital funds imec.istart future fund and Flanders Future Tech Fund. According to the company, the capital injection will be used to support its efforts to accelerate the commercialisation of its offering.
In its 11 August update, EDGX revealed that it has already secured a €1.1 million multi-unit commercial contract with an undisclosed satellite operator, as well as multiple government and institutional contracts with undisclosed agencies and organisations.
The company is currently preparing for its initial demonstration mission, dubbed Early Bird, which is scheduled to launch in February 2026 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9. The company’s most recent milestone in the development of this mission was a series of radiation resilience tests conducted at the Université catholique de Louvain and HollandPTC toward the end of 2024. The testing assessed the system’s resilience to the radiation it will encounter during its expected seven-year lifespan in space.
In addition to its initial demonstration mission, EDGX confirmed that it intends to launch two other missions in 2026. According to the company, the missions will be focused on developing flight heritage and will target the in-orbit demonstration of the system’s signal intelligence and Earth observation use cases. Leaving the Nest, its second mission, is also scheduled for launch in February 2026, although it is unclear whether it will share the same Falcon 9 flight as Early Bird. The third mission, Earth Spotting, is expected to launch in December 2026.
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