Milestone demonstrates viability of on-satellite edge processing for time-critical Earth observation missions
Toronto, Canada | July 23nd, 2026 - CATALYST, a PCI Geomatics company and developer of the OnBoard on-orbit image processing platform, today announced a new performance benchmark for its OnBoard edge capability: full processing of a multispectral scene in 5.5 seconds on NVIDIA Jetson Thor hardware, a 2X speedup from previous benchmark results on NVIDIA Jetson AGX Orin.
The benchmark processed a 4,096 x 18,404 pixel, multispectral scene (a full acquisition from a push-broom sensor) on satellite-class edge hardware, without reliance on a ground station. The result demonstrates that complete orthorectification, geolocation correction, and band-to-band alignment can be performed before downlink, enabling constellation operators to deliver processed, analysis-ready imagery in near real time.
To put that speed in perspective, the satellite captures the image strip in roughly 13 seconds. CATALYST OnBoard Edge processes it in 5.5 seconds, meaning the imagery is analysis-ready before the sensor finishes collecting the next scene.
The impact is greatest for defence and government missions, where minutes decide the outcome. Maritime surveillance, border security, wildfire response, disaster relief, and threat monitoring all depend on acting while a situation is unfolding, not reacting to it once the moment has passed. The conventional approach downlinks entire raw scenes to the ground, then queues and processes them before anything is usable, a wait of hours when the mission is measured in minutes.
CATALYST OnBoard Edge processes and analyzes a scene on the satellite. The satellite can send a compact detection or alert the instant a downlink or relay is available, rather than waiting to move gigabytes of raw data. It can also trigger autonomous tip and cue on board to retask an asset via intersatellite links without waiting to pass a ground station. A vessel detected during a pass can become an alert before the satellite is out of view. That is the difference between acting on what is happening now versus having to review what has already happened.
"The question we set out to answer was whether edge processing on satellite-class hardware could meet the latency demands of real missions, not just in theory but with production-grade image quality," said Kevin Jones, Chief Product Officer at CATALYST. "Our robust and efficient image processing solutions have been easily deployed to NVIDIA’s Orin NX, Jetson AGX Orin and now Jetson Thor hardware. Low latency, high accuracy processing enables mission critical uses cases and opens new possibilities to building constellations that respond to market requirements."
OnBoard Edge is built on the same platform foundation as CATALYST's existing CATALYST Onboard cloud-based constellation processing product, which today processes imagery for operators including Planet Labs and Satellogic at production scale. Constellation operators can adopt Cloud Mode immediately and scale to Edge processing as their architecture and mission requirements evolve.
CATALYST has worked with Open Cosmos to demonstrate CATALYST Onboard Edge for operational deployment. The solution is platform and sensor agnostic, providing an ideal opportunity for satellite operators interested in understanding how edge processing applies to their constellation architecture to work with CATALYST.
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About CATALYST
CATALYST, a PCI Geomatics company, develops the CATALYST OnBoard on-orbit image processing platform for satellite constellation operators. Built on 45 years of photogrammetric science, OnBoard delivers orthorectification, band alignment, geometric correction, and AI-ready output on any sensor, at any scale, from prototype to full constellation. CATALYST serves operators across commercial, government, and defence segments in more than 150 countries.