Austin startup Hypergiant is launching mini-satellites that will update the software on Air Force spacecraft in minutes instead of months

• The Austin startup Hypergiant is launching a fleet of mini-satellites to update the software on the Air Force's spacecraft.

• The first mini-satellite in the Chameleon Constellation will launch early next year, with several dozen – each about the size of two loaves of bread – to follow in the next few years.
• The small satellites will use software "containers" of computer code to bring updates and data to the Air Force's large satellites much more quickly than updates would arrive from ground stations. 
• The mini-satellites will update Air Force software applications and have the capacity to collect and share data, too.  
• Hypergiant, a 230-person company, is also working on helmets for space and Earth applications that have been compared to the helmets in the "Iron Man" movies. 
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A Texas startup is launching mini-satellites that can update, patch, and add data sets to software on orbiting Air Force spacecraft in minutes instead of months, which project leaders say has never been done before. 

Hypergiant, a 230-person company based in Austin, says it will launch the first mini-satellite in its Chameleon Constellation early next year, and ultimately launch several dozen. The satellites, each of which is about the size of two loaves of bread, will transmit software "containers," packets of computer code that can be transferred quickly to the Air Force's spacecraft. This means that software updates can happen in minutes instead of months, which was typically the case when the Air Force would send heavy software updates from ground stations directly to its satellites.  

"Traditional satellite systems need years to build because the hardware and software both need to be complete before they can launch," said Hypergiant CEO Ben Lamm. "But that's not fast enough anymore." Hypergiant's satellites are re-configurable and can be updated in real time, Lamm said. That way, if a software update goes awry – which could destroy a satellite or make it vulnerable to nation-state hackers – a fix can be pushed in minutes by tweaking the code in the container onboard Hypergiant's mini-satellites. 

The US military maintains more than 150 satellites that track weather, conduct reconnaissance, maintain the global positioning system (GPS), and maintain a wide variety of communications functions, among other services.  Air Force officials involved in the project say updating their software is crucial to national defense. 

"The only difference between a national security system and space junk is the software that operates it," said Air Force Major Rob Slaughter, director of Platform One, the Department of Defense's secure software platform used to build space technology. Slaughter said Hypergiant is "doing amazing work," which the Air Force's head of space innovation echoed. 

"We are working with them on a number of projects because the United States Air Force understands that the future of keeping Americans safe rests in having access to the best minds and most sophisticated technology," said Lauren Knausenberger, the Air Force's chief transformation officer. 

The ultimate cloud computing

Hypergiant says the program may someday benefit "anyone who wants to put up a satellite quickly but also wants to update it."

For now, the mini-satellites will serve only the Air Force, but the container approach to space software uploads could lead to the ultimate cloud computing. The technique also enables a variety of other software and artificial intelligence applications – including data-sharing among the Hypergiant constellation and other satellites that share a central "brain," or data depository. This could allow spacecraft to share data in new ways that would benefit a range of industries including weather, agriculture, transportation, and communications. Some AI applications could take place entirely in space, Lamm says, as satellites gather, share, and learn from data that is never beamed down to Earth. 

Here are the ways that Hypergiant says its mini-satellites can update Air Force software in real-time and on the fly (literally):  

• Responding to changing situations in space to adjust sensors and communication systems 
• Modifying artificial intelligence programs with data collected in space
• Updating critical systems with software patches delivered securely 
• Delivering military applications rapidly to give the US an advantage over adversaries 
• Allowing rapid threat prevention through continuous updating of cybersecurity software
• Migrating legacy systems with new applications 
• Someday updating and adding data to commercial satellites

Seperate from its new work with the Air Force, Hypergiant has completed four space missions with NASA, Army Space, DARPA, Lynk, Dynetics and Amazon Web Services. Lamm says he would like to work more closely with Elon Musk, the CEO of commercial space company SpaceX, which Hypergiant partners with for services such as launching satellites. 

The company does not disclose its funding, but does name its investors, which include Sumitomo, Align Capital, and two celebrity angel investors: Stephen Adler, the mayor of Austin; and Tony Robbins, the motivational author and speaker. 

'Iron Man' helmets for space and Earth

Hypergiant is also working on two software-infused helmets — one for Earth and one for space — that provide the wearer with location-based data, communications, and biometric information. "When we demonstrated them everyone called them the Ironman helmet," Lamm says, laughing about the Robert Downey Jr. movies depicting a computerized suit with powerful computers. "They're not that advanced. They are really cool, though." 

Before getting into AI, Lamm, 38, founded Chaotic Moon, a mobile app company that worked with Hollywood talent agency William Morris, allowing Lamm to demonstrate technology for movie stars Sylvester Stallone and Jack Black. 

One of his ultimate goals for Hypergiant is to facilitate interplanetary communications by building satellites that function as "smart telephone poles in space," allowing people on Earth to connect with correspondents wherever else in the galaxy they may be. 

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