Pasadena, California — Sophia Space, Inc., a leader in space-based edge computing, today announced it has selected Apex, the leading supplier of productized satellite platforms, to supply a satellite bus to bring real-time orbital computing to enterprise, government, and defense customers.

Sophia Space will fly one of Apex’s Nova bus platforms for a demo mission in 2027, demonstrating Sophia Space’s TILE (Thermal Integrated LEO Edge) compute modules. 

The deal comes at a pivotal moment, as the volume of data generated in orbit grows, driven by new constellations designed to deliver persistent Earth observation, communications, security, and scientific insights. Traditional approaches, reliant on downlinking petabytes of data to ground stations, simply cannot keep pace with mission-critical timelines, making a new layer of on orbit edge processing essential.

“This is a force multiplier for Sophia Space’s mission to bring orbital computing mainstream,” said Rob DeMillo, CEO and Co-Founder of Sophia Space. “With Apex as our strategic bus supplier, we’re bringing computing into orbit where it’s needed most. This isn’t just about faster data. It’s about enabling satellites to make intelligent decisions autonomously, accelerating innovation across defense, commercial space, and Earth observation industries.”

 “Apex was built to power innovative space missions, helping teams move from breakthrough technology to operational spacecraft faster,” said Ian Cinnamon, Co-Founder & CEO of Apex. “Sophia’s vision for real-time orbital computing is exactly the kind of mission our Nova platform is designed to support, giving them a reliable, scalable path to bring edge computing capabilities to orbit.”

The announcement fast-forwards Sophia’s on-orbit success, closing a critical gap in the emerging space-based edge computing market, enabling faster responses in national defense, disaster management, Earth observation, and commercial operations where latency and bandwidth are limiting factors.

“We’re building the backbone for the next era of space-to-space and space-to-Earth infrastructure,” added Leon Alkalai, CTO and Founder of Sophia Space. “With Apex as a collaborator, satellites become autonomous computing hubs, able to act on data the moment it’s generated.”

Open for Engagement

Organizations across defense, space, energy, and emergency response sectors are invited to explore partnership and deployment opportunities as orbital computing moves from concept to commercial reality.

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About Sophia Space Inc.

Sophia Space is building the future of orbital computing and in-space data centers. Its modular TILE (Thermal-Integrated LEO Edge) technology enables passive computing alongside in-situ data processing, AI acceleration, and edge computing for satellites, defense systems, and commercial space stations—dramatically reducing latency and delivering actionable insights where and when they are needed. Learn more at www.sophia.space

About Apex

Apex is the world’s leading manufacturer of productized, configurable satellite bus platforms designed to meet the demands of the rapidly expanding space industrial base. Founded in 2022 by Ian Cinnamon and Max Benassi, Apex manufactures scalable spacecraft solutions for both commercial and government customers. The company set a world record with its first satellite bus as the fastest clean-sheet design to production spacecraft operating in space. Backed by some of the country's leading investors, Apex is committed to accelerating space innovation through high-rate manufacturing of productized, reliable satellite platforms that enable the next generation of critical constellations. Learn more at www.apexspace.com

Media Contacts:

Brian Monnin, Co-Founder & Chief Commercial Officer, Sophia Space
bmonnin@sophia.space

David Ariosto, Head of Communications, Sophia Space dariosto@sophia.space

Neil Presicci, Head of Marketing, Apex
neil.presicci@apexspace.com