
As its name suggests, Orbital Sidekick is creating technology that acts as a buddy in outer space, keeping an eye on the globe using satellites to help keep it safe and sustainable.
The San Francisco-based startup, a member of the NVIDIA Inception program, enables commercial and government users to optimize sustainable operations and security with hyperspectral intelligence - information collected from across the electromagnetic spectrum.
Space-based hyperspectral intelligence basically breaks up the spectrum of light so it's possible to see what's happening at a chemical level without needing an aircraft, said Kaushik Bangalore, vice president of payload engineering at Orbital Sidekick, or OSK.
Founded in 2016, OSK is among the first to use hyperspectral intelligence to detect hydrocarbon or gas leaks. These are some of the world's most pressing energy issues - 6,000 U.S. pipeline incidents from 2002-2021 resulted in over $11 billion in damages.
Previous industry-standard ways of detecting such issues were unreliable as they used small aircraft and pilots looking out the window for leaks, depending on the trained eye rather than sensors or other technologies, said Bangalore.
OSK operates a constellation of satellites that collect hyperspectral imagery from space. That data is processed and analyzed in real time using the NVIDIA Jetson edge AI platform. Then, insights - like the type of leak at a GPS point, its size and its urgency - can be viewed on a screen by users of OSK's SIGMA Monitor platform.
The technology accomplishes what a pilot would, but much more quickly, objectively and with higher accuracy, Bangalore said.
A methane leak detected by OSK technology. Sustainable Operations OSK technologies have so far monitored more than 20,000 kilometers of pipelines for various customers, according to Tushar Prabhakar, its founder and chief operating officer.
The platform has detected nearly 100 suspected methane leaks, 200 suspected liquid hydrocarbon leaks or contamination issues, and more than 300 intrusive events related to digging or construction activities, Prabhakar added. OSK helped eliminate the potential for these events to become serious energy crises.
OSK's SIGMA Monitor platform dashboard. We're taking hyperspectral intelligence to the finest commercial resolution that the world has ever seen to make the Earth a more sustainable place, Bangalore said. The biggest challenge with hyperspectral imagery is dealing with huge amounts of data, which can be up to 400x the size of 2D visual data. NVIDIA technology helps process this data in real time.
OSK uses the NVIDIA Jetson AGX Xavier module as an AI engine at the satellites' edge to process the hyperspectral data collected from various sensors and crunch algorithms for leak detection.
The module, along with the NVIDIA CV-CUDA and CUDA Python software toolkits, have sped up OSK's analysis by 5x, according to Bangalore. This acceleration enhances the platform's ability to detect and recognize anomalies from space - then project the data back to Earth.
There are around 15 sun-synchronous orbits per day, Bangalore said. With NVIDIA Jetson AGX Xavier, we can process all the data taken onboard a satellite in an orbit within that same orbit, enabling continuous data capture.
In 2018, OSK's previous-generation system was launched on the International Space Station. Its data was analyzed using the NVIDIA Jetson TX2 module.
In addition, OSK uses the next-generation NVIDIA Jetson AGX Orin module for an aerial version of the platform that collects hyperspectral imagery from airplanes. Compared to the previous-generation module, the Jetson AGX Orin - with upgraded memory and speed - can run larger amounts of map data streamed in real time to pilots, Bangalore said.
We chose the NVIDIA Jetson platform because it offers off-the-shelf products for industrial applications with extended shock, vibration and temperature, and software that has been optimized for the NVIDIA GPU architecture, Bangalore said.
And as a member of NVIDIA Inception, a free, global program for cutting-edge startups, OSK received technical support to optimize the team's use of such safety features and SDK acceleration.
Versatile Use Cases Hyperspectral intelligence offers a multitude of applications. For this reason, the OSK platform is deployed across a broad range of customers, including the U.S. Department of Defense and energy sector.
OSK's GHOSt constellation of satellites. Energy Transfer, a major pipeline operator, will use OSK's GHOSt constellation for asset monitoring.
For the commercial oil and gas industry, OSK technology helps detect gas and hydrocarbon leaks, allowing pipeline operators to quickly halt work and fix issues.
To accelerate the energy transition, the platform can enhance exploration of lithium, cobalt and more, display a hyperspectral index of areas on a map that have signals of the elements, and differentiate between these materials and soil.
Creating sustainable supply chains for battery materials like lithium is key to advancing the global energy transition and scaling electric vehicle adoption, as lithium-ion batteries power the majority of EVs. The EV battery market is projected to reach over $218 billion in 2027, and EV sales are estimated to reach up to 50 million units by 2030.
Our tech can help discover lithium, and prevent methane or greenhouse gasses from being let out into the atmosphere, Bangalore said. It's a very direct impact, and it's what the planet needs.
Read more about innovative energy startups, including MinervaCQ, which is using speech AI to coach contact-center agents in retail energy, and Skycatch, which is building digital twins to make mining and construction sites safer, more efficient and sustainable.
Learn more about NV
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
01/04/2026
January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION
Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...
22/01/2026
SVG Students To Watch: Chuck Luarasi, Curry CollegeThe Massachusetts native is cutting his teeth with Harvard Athletics, Cape Cod Baseball LeagueBy Brandon Cost...
22/01/2026
Follow the Money, Episode 4: Talking Tech, Sports, and Private Capital With Sam ...
22/01/2026
Fever pitch: WRC is back for the start of the 2026 season with Rallye Monte-Carl...
22/01/2026
FloSports Prepares To Broadcast Outdoor Hockey Game Amidst Brutally Cold Tempera...
22/01/2026
As Paramount Enters the Octagon, UFC's Craig Borsari Previews Production Pl...
22/01/2026
By Jordan Crucchiola
It's a desire you hear so often among those in filmmaking circles. I just want to make cool stuff with my friends. With the NEXT selec...
22/01/2026
Brittany Shyne attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Seeds at The Ray Theatre on January 25, 2025, in Park City, UT. (Photo by Robin Marshall/Sh...
22/01/2026
Joel Edgerton and Felicity Jones appear in Train Dreams by Clint Bentley, an off...
22/01/2026
Last November, Ed Sheeran returned to his musical roots for an intimate, one-nig...
22/01/2026
A New Voice, New Places and the Real Australia as Brooke Blurton joins Ernie Din...
22/01/2026
MELBOURNE, Fla., Jan 22, 2026 - L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX) has received a...
22/01/2026
Every delay costs. When a subtitle fails QC, even the smallest issue can mean missed deadlines, extra vendor costs, or frustrated teams. The new Accurate.Video ...
22/01/2026
Strategic hire marks latest milestone in Gracenote's continued expansion into CTV advertising & monetization
New York - January 21, 2026 - Nielsen's Gr...
22/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
22/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
22/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
22/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
22/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
22/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
22/01/2026
A Four-Time Emmy Award Winner on Defining His SoundCharles David Denler is a Composer and Pianist for film, television, and the Concert Stage. He is a 4 Time E...
22/01/2026
Rohde & Schwarz, Qualcomm, and Motorola demonstrate successful 5G Broadcast comp...
22/01/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
22/01/2026
The wait is over, pilots. Flight control support - one of the most community-requested features for GeForce NOW - is live starting today, following its announce...
22/01/2026
AI has taken center stage in financial services, automating the research and exe...
22/01/2026
AI-powered content generation is now embedded in everyday tools like Adobe and Canva, with a slew of agencies and studios incorporating the technology into thei...
21/01/2026
Australia's Greatest Conman? premieres 24 February on SBS and SBS On Demand
Media releases
The $900 million dollar mystery that fooled our nation Austra...
21/01/2026
SBS ignites Lunar New Year with bold storytelling for The Year of the Fire Horse
21 January, 2026
Media releases
SBS is charging into Lunar New Year 2026 w...
21/01/2026
The Living Room Remains Central: Nielsen Highlights Growing TV Screen Dominance ...
21/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
21/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
21/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
21/01/2026
Telestream , the industry's leading provider of content lifecycle management and media workflow orchestration, and Quantum Corporation (NASDAQ: QMCO) today ...
21/01/2026
Lightware s TPN ecosystem brings a new level of predictability and structure to 10G AV-over-IP deployments, offering professional AV integrators a deterministic...
21/01/2026
Wisycom, a global leader in advanced wireless RF solutions, launches its new wideband antenna matrix, MATF, which supports RF and fiber for demanding multi-zone...
21/01/2026
Grass Valley will demonstrate how it is powering scalable, future-ready live production at FOMEX 2026, taking place February 2 4 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Exhibi...
21/01/2026
BCNEXXT, the developers of the advanced playout platform Vipe, today announced that OKAST, the monetization-first OTT platform provider, is using BCNEXXT's ...
21/01/2026
Revamped design enables advanced capabilities, leading with powerful IP to HDMI conversion
Magewell, developer of innovative, high-performance video I/O and I...
21/01/2026
Jan 20th 2026, Changsha Kiloview today announced the launch of two major additions to its AV-over-IP ecosystem: the AVX24-4 Media HUB and KiloLink Station, ma...
21/01/2026
Latest version of enterprise-class Buttons brings simple, coherent control to more than 700 professional devices and applications
Bitfocus, the specialist in ...
21/01/2026
Clear-Com is pleased to announce the appointment of Kari Eythorsson as the new Regional Sales Manager (RSM) for Southeast Asia & Australia, based in Singapore,...
21/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
21/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
21/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
21/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
21/01/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Presents Our Italian 2026 Slate: The Year of the Stars
(Photo credit: Virginia Bettoja / Netflix)
Entertainment
21 January 2026
Gl...
21/01/2026
From skilled trades to startups, AI's rapid expansion is the beginning of th...