Photo: ReOrbit

Helsinki-based satellite manufacturer ReOrbit is planning a satellite network called Space Cloud, capable of secure data movement and processing, in collaboration with Google Cloud.

Space Cloud is designed to use optical signals to link a network of data processing satellites with localized AI compute, creating an orbital data center, ReOrbit said in a Thursday release.

It will be divided into two separate networks for public and private customers, the company said. This includes a sovereign cloud for national security data, and a commercial cloud for Earth Observation data and commercial edge computing.

“By combining ReOrbit’s software-enabled satellite architecture with Google’s world-class expertise in AI and cloud orchestration, the project aims to create an infrastructure to address the critical demand for European and NATO data sovereignty,” the company said.

ReOrbit said Google Cloud would contribute technical know-how for building a cloud modeled after the latter’s terrestrial data centers. The satellites, it said, would encrypt data with quantum key distribution.

The release did not include a target date for launch or operationality. A spokesperson for ReOrbit told Via Satellite that the company would release full technical details and a project roadmap at Google Cloud’s Next conference in Las Vegas in April.

“We are pleased to collaborate with ReOrbit on the ‘Space Cloud’ project, which explores an interesting approach to orbital data processing,” said Markus Hongisto, Google Cloud’s Finland country manager. “This initiative allows us to share our technical expertise in cloud orchestration and AI to support ReOrbit as they build new ways to manage data securely.”