News & Updates
The latest news and updates from companies in the WLTH portfolio.
SpaceX reveals AI1 orbital data center design for satellite network
The AI1 satellite's 70-meter wingspan and 150 kW compute payload could reshape how the world thinks about AI infrastructure. SpaceX unveiled its AI1 orbital data center satellite in a video around June 9, 2026, laying out a vision for AI computation that skips terrestrial infrastructure entirely. The satellite is designed for sun-synchronous orbit, powered by solar arrays, cooled by passive radiation, and connected to the rest of the world through laser links to the existing Starlink constellation. The headline specs are striking. The AI1 has a 70-meter wingspan, a deployed height of 20 meters, and a peak compute payload capacity of 150 kW. Elon Musk noted that one AI1 satellite's power output is roughly equivalent to one Nvidia GB300 rack. Simpler than Starlink, bigger ambitions Musk pointed out that AI1 manufacturing drops the phased-array antennas that make Starlink satellites complex to produce. What's left is solar cells, radiators, and laser links. In January 2026, SpaceX filed with the FCC proposing a constellation of up to one million AI1 satellites. To support that manufacturing ambition, the company is building a Gigasat factory in Bastrop, Texas. Initial AI1 satellite launches are targeted for late 2027, though SpaceX plans to deploy compute payloads on select existing Starlink satellites before the dedicated AI1 fleet is ready. The AI1 operates at roughly 70 kW per ton at approximately 600 km altitude. Passive radiative cooling in the vacuum of space sidesteps one of the thorniest problems facing ground-based data centers: heat. On Earth, cooling a hyperscale data center can consume a significant portion of its total energy budget. In orbit, you radiate heat directly into space. The terrestrial data center problem this is solving SpaceX is explicitly pitching AI1 as a way to sidestep land use, power grid, water cooling, and permitting constraints that face terrestrial data centers. The laser link architecture routes data through the Starlink constellation rather than requiring dedicated ground stations at every customer site. Hardware refresh cycles are a known challenge: you can't easily send a technician to swap out a GPU at 600 km altitude. Whatever compute is on that satellite has to last, or the economics of the whole system deteriorate quickly. What investors should watch The AI1 announcement lands at an interesting moment for SpaceX's corporate trajectory. The company has been preparing for an IPO, and orbital data centers represent a differentiated, high-margin business category. Starlink's connectivity business is already profitable; AI compute-as-a-service from orbit would be an entirely new revenue category. Microsoft, Google, and Amazon have all committed to multi-hundred-billion-dollar terrestrial data center buildouts over the next several years. The late 2027 launch timeline gives the market roughly 18 months to decide how seriously to price this possibility.
NASA shifts SunRISE mission to SpaceX Falcon Heavy, drops Vulcan Centaur launch
New Delhi: NASA has switched the launch vehicle for its upcoming SunRISE (Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment) mission, which will use a trio of SpaceX Falcon Heavy rockets instead of a United Launch Alliance Vulcan Centaur. This mission then will take off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on a rideshare with the U.S. Space Force's Space Systems Command. NASA has not yet released a new launch date and will announce revised timing at a later date. Sunrise will examine radio bursts generated from the Sun prior to powerful outbursts of charged particles reaching Earth. These observations may help scientists better predict space weather and could be used to shield satellites, astronauts and other vital space systems from damaging space storms of solar energetic particles. Six small satellites will work as one giant radio telescope Sunrise is a constellation of six toaster-sized SmallSats that will be part of a flying formation, just above geosynchronous orbit, about 35,000 kilometres above the Earth. As a combined giant radio telescope, they will be able to pick up weak radio signals from the outer layers of the Sun's atmosphere, the corona. According to NASA, these radio signals reach Earth before the energetic particles that produce them. As the radio bursts are tracked, researchers hope to start predicting solar storms at a much earlier stage in the development of these storms, which can affect satellites, communication systems, and astronauts on space missions. Spacecraft ready for launch The six SmallSats have been assembled and tested at Utah State University's Space Dynamics Laboratory (SDL) at Logan, Utah. Until it is confirmed by NASA, the spacecraft will be kept in storage. Sunrise is part of NASA's Science Mission Directorate's Heliophysics Division's Mission of Opportunity programme. The University of Michigan leads the science investigation, with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), managed by Caltech, responsible for project and mission operations. The mission is part of NASA's Explorers Program, which is managed by the agency's Goddard Space Flight Center.
World's first USV airdrop accomplished by Kraken and Capewell - Naval News
Kraken Technology Group and Capewell, supported by the Royal Navy under Project Beehive, have successfully completed the world's first extracted-load airdrop of an uncrewed surface vessel (USV) from an A400M military transport aircraft. Kraken press release During a series of pioneering trials, a Project Beehive specification K3 SCOUT USV was deployed on Capewell's Universal Maritime Craft Aerial Delivery System (UMCADS) multiple times from an altitude of 1,300 feet into waters of up to Sea State 4. These demonstrations successfully proved a new force projection capability to rapidly insert high-performance uncrewed vessels into contested or difficult-to-access maritime environments. The trials combined Kraken's K3 SCOUT optional airdrop kit with Capewell's reconfigurable Type V parachute-based UMCADS platform, which can airdrop various maritime vessels directly into military zones. The trial campaign culminated with a successful validation of a pioneering new IN-Release system, a configurable electro-mechanical release mechanism which enables reliable, synchronised load disconnect across a wide range of aerial and maritime applications. These tests prove that K3 SCOUTs can be inserted directly by air and enter the water ready for operation, significantly expanding the speed, range, and flexibility with which uncrewed maritime capabilities - such as those procured for the UK's Hybrid Navy in Project Beehive - can be deployed. Mal Crease, Founder and CEO of Kraken Technology Group, said: "Working in partnership with Capewell and the Royal Navy, we have demonstrated that K3 SCOUT can be rapidly deployed directly from a military transport aircraft into contested or difficult-to-access waters ready for operation. Kraken, alongside its partners and the Royal Navy, will continue to push boundaries to deliver novel and enhanced operational capabilities with our resilient, modular platforms." Mark Lavender, Director of Business Development and Training at Capewell said: "In collaboration with Kraken we were able to validate the integration of a complex payload with our UMCADS platform while demonstrating the ease with which the system can be reconfigured for alternative mission essential equipment be they maritime or land applications. This was further validated in that we conducted 4 live airdrops in 6 working days with the same boat and platform during this campaign."
