Author: Adam Alkalai

CENTENNIAL, Colo. – SNC, the global aerospace and national security company, today announced it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Specter Aerospace, a pioneering developer of novel propulsion technologies and vehicle systems. The collaboration brings together Specter Aerospace’s expertise in ram/scramjet propulsion, vehicle design and avionics with SNC’s proven expertise in mission integration, air vehicle development and air defense systems to deliver a supersonic aerial effects product line designed to meet the evolving needs of modern defense operations.

“Despite significant advancements in air defense technology, many systems are prohibitively expensive, while others struggle to consistently address emerging threats from hypersonic missiles or drone swarms,” said Jon Piatt, executive vice president of SNC’s IAS business area. “Together with Specter Aerospace, we are combining affordability with advanced propulsion and scalable manufacturing to create a solution that allows for widespread deployment without compromising on range, reliability or performance.”

“Today’s national security challenges demand that munitions be deployed quickly with increased range and significantly improved affordability,” said Specter CEO, Felipe Gomez del Campo. “This makes us all the more excited to partner with SNC to rapidly demonstrate and field these capabilities, leveraging their scale and mission systems integration expertise.”

The jointly developed supersonic aerial effects will provide customers with a range of critical advantages. Designed to maximize affordability, these systems offer a low cost-per-round, enabling scalable deployment to meet operational demands. Leveraging scalable, advanced manufacturing techniques, the product line is engineered from the ground up to ensure streamlined and efficient production. 

With significantly greater range than current competitive systems, these aerial effects deliver unmatched reach, enhancing mission effectiveness. Additionally, the designs prioritize reliable operation, meeting mission-critical requirements for consistent and dependable performance in the most demanding environments.

This collaboration reinforces both companies’ dedication to advancing cutting-edge technologies that enhance mission success and national security. Joint air vehicle and engine development and testing are already underway, with initial flight testing scheduled for Q3 2026.

 

Visit https://specteraerospace.com to learn more.

Mandala Space Ventures is proud to announce that Sophia Space, a company incubated and created by Mandala in 2023, has successfully closed a $10 million Seed round, bringing total funds raised to date to $13.5 million, to accelerate the development of its orbital edge computing platform.

Sophia Space was founded by Dr. Leon Alkalai, founder of Mandala Space Ventures and retired NASA/JPL Fellow, with the vision of building scalable, space-based computing infrastructure designed specifically for the space environments in Lower Earth Orbit. The company’s modular, solar-powered, and passively cooled systems are engineered to enable low-latency, AI-optimized compute capabilities directly in space.

The seed round was led by Alpha Funds, KDDI Green Partners Fund, and Unlock Venture Partners, with participation from Mandala Space Ventures via its venture capital arm. The funding will accelerate development of Sophia Space’s proprietary thermal technology, expand its engineering team, and advance its modular TILE platform toward operational deployment.

“Sophia Space represents exactly the type of deep-tech company Mandala was built to create and support,” said Dr. Leon Alkalai. “Orbital computing is foundational to the future of space infrastructure, enabling real-time AI processing, reducing bandwidth constraints, and strengthening both commercial and national security missions.”

By processing data where it is generated, Sophia Space’s architecture reduces latency and bandwidth demands while enabling real-time decision-making for defense, and disaster response. Direct applications include Earth observation real-time processing, maritime intelligence, critical infrastructure monitoring, space-to-space data services, and much more.

Sophia Space’s progress reflects Mandala’s broader incubation strategy: identify high-impact space technologies, assemble world-class teams, and build mission-driven companies from concept to market readiness.

Initial development milestones are underway as the company scales its modular TILE platform and expands strategic partnerships across the emerging orbital computing ecosystem.

Mandala congratulates the Sophia Space team on this incredible milestone and looks forward to supporting its continued growth.

Visit https://sophia.space to learn more.

Media Contact:

Brian Monnin, bmonnin@sophia.space | 

Emma Way, emma@mandalaspaceventures.com

Additional News Coverage:

• Sophia Space
• Payload
• SpaceNews

Armada and Sophia Space today announced the launch of a first-of-its-kind, fully integrated Earth-to-space scalable compute infrastructure; a transformative platform that seamlessly connects terrestrial and orbital systems to provide real-time AI, autonomous analytics, and resilient data orchestration across some of the most remote and mission-critical environments on and off the planet. This collaboration combines Armada’s Galleon ground edge data centers that are powered by Armada

This collaboration combines Armada’s Galleon ground edge data centers that are powered by Armada Edge Platform (AEP) with Sophia Space’s TILE orbital compute modules and Sophia Orbital Operating System (SOOS). Together, they create a seamless edge computing network that connects remote locations on Earth with computing resources in space, including Low Earth Orbit (LEO).

“Our mission is to bridge the digital divide,” said Dan Wright, CEO of Armada. “This partnership extends the edge into space, enabling real-time operations anywhere they’re needed—on Earth and beyond.”

As global operations become increasingly remote, autonomous, and data-driven, the need for resilient, real-time intelligence spanning Earth and space has become a critical challenge. From climate resilience to emergency response, deploying AI across terrestrial and space platforms enable faster, smarter decisions that protect lives, resources, and national interests. As defense sector needs and industries expand into harder-to-reach frontiers, edge AI infrastructure is increasingly seen as a must to meet
emerging demands for speed, autonomy, and security at scale.

“We founded Sophia Space to modernize space infrastructure and make it as smart and responsive as the best systems on Earth,” said Rob DeMillo, CEO and Co-founder of Sophia Space. “This partnership with Armada brings that vision to life, combining our TILE modules with the Armada Edge Platform (AEP) to build a fully autonomous, on and off planet compute fabric that thinks, adapts, and acts in real time.”

Next-Gen Architecture for a Multi-Domain World
At its core, advanced technologies like AEP and TILE enable two-way communication and control, allowing seamless collaboration between systems that support real-time AI processing and continuous self-improvement through adaptive learning.

The platform intelligently routes packaged data to minimize latency while dynamically optimizing computing power to meet environment-specific demands, ensuring superior performance. Security, however, remains a top priority. The systems feature optical communications, end-to-end encryption, and a zero-trust framework that complies with both defense and commercial standards.

The architecture, meanwhile, supports a broad range of applications.

In defense, it enables real-time detection and decision-making in contested or restricted areas. 

“The future of enabling American warriors to be much more efficient and much more focused will come from systems like Sophia Space and Armada working in concert, “noted Hon. Dan Goldin Longest Serving NASA Director and Sophia Space Strategic Advisor”. “The technology is here for AI edge computing. The technology is here for energy harvesting and passive cooling in space. It’s all here on Earth and in Space and gives America the strategic high ground to ensure the integrity of our national
security to protect us from emerging threats.”

For other sectors, such as energy and mining, it helps predict equipment failures and monitor terrain changes to maintain smooth operations. During disaster response, satellites provide timely, accurate information to accelerate relief efforts. In space missions, processing data directly in orbit reduces communication costs and speeds insights, improving mission efficiency. Together, these capabilities demonstrate how the platform delivers critical, mission-ready intelligence across diverse industries and challenging environments.

“We are not just placing compute power in space, we are giving it scalability,” noted Dr. Leon Alkalai, Founder and CTO of Sophia Space. “Sophia TILEs and SOOS are designed to process and adapt in orbit, turning satellites into intelligent, responsive nodes. Partnering with Armada allows us to fuse orbital intelligence with real-time edge infrastructure on Earth, bridging space and ground like never before.”

Now Open for Engagement
Organizations across defense, space, energy, and emergency response sectors are invited to explore partnership and deployment opportunities.

Media Contact:
press@armada.ai | https://armada.ai

Brian Monnin, bmonnin@sophia.space | https://sophia.space

Emma Way, emma@mandalaspaceventures.com

Mandala Space Ventures proudly announces the launch of its next portfolio company, Sophia Space, a groundbreaking platform that reimagines the future of data infrastructure by moving it from Earth into space. The story of Sophia’s origins is nothing short of remarkable. It is the result of three years of development, drawing on research established at Caltech and at JPL, which Caltech manages for NASA. Sophia Space introduces a revolutionary space architecture that leverages the natural advantages of space (source of energy and cooling) to deliver sustainable, scalable, AI edge computing in space for the benefit of humanity. 

Sophia Space uses a first-of-its-kind modular network of autonomous compute “Tiles” in sun‑synchronous Lower Earth Orbit (LEO), each harvesting solar power to run on‑orbit data processing at the edge and radiating waste heat directly into space for unmatched computing efficiency.

“At Mandala, we incubate, we accelerate and we invest in space startup companies that are essential to the future of the emerging space industry. Sophia Space is just that kind of a breakthrough vision and idea that stands to revolutionize and support the emerging space LEO economy as well as augment data center capacity on Earth” said Leon Alkalai, Founder and CEO of Mandala Space Ventures. “I am also delighted to introduce Mr. Robert DeMillo as the Sophia CEO who is best qualified to lead this new breakthrough company from here on.” 

The Vision for Sophia Space

Data centers on Earth have become ecological misfits: they consume unsustainable amounts of energy, damage the environment, and increasingly intrude on communities. In space, the solution is elegant and natural:

• Infinite renewable energy from the Sun
• Unlimited cooling from the deep-space environment
• No competition for land, water, or other critical resources

Incorporating technology to be licensed from Caltech/JPL, Mandala has invented a scalable architecture for space based data centers, achieving Earth-like power levels (100 Megawatt). This is enabled by:

• A constellation of satellites in sun-synchronous Lower Earth Orbit (LEO)
• Optical communication links already available today
• Unique, modular Tiles (servers) that collect solar energy, store and process data at the edge, and efficiently radiate heat into the cold of deep-space.

About Mandala Space Ventures

Mandala Space Ventures is a space venture studio focused on creating breakthrough companies at the intersection of space technology, sustainability, and scalable infrastructure. With deep partnerships across academia, government, and industry, Mandala is committed to pioneering ventures that redefine the possible. 

Sophia Space Press Contact:
Brian Monnin, bmonnin@sophia.space 

Mandala Space Ventures Press Contact:
Emma Way, emma@mandalaspaceventures.com