POET on-orbit experiment (2022)
Scientific Systems Company ran an AI cloud-detection app on Loft Orbital's YAM-3 satellite-as-a-service platform. The software, funded through a separate BlackSky contract, integrated in four weeks from delivery to execution — a first step toward SDA's edge-processing goal.
SDA demonstrated third-party software could upload and run on-orbit in weeks, not years.
The experiment informed edge processor sizing for SDA's proliferated architecture and validated the satellite-as-a-service model for testbeds.
PLATE aims to formalize and expand this pattern — a dedicated testbed where SDA can evaluate multiple third-party technologies before a full integration decision.
