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Compute — TRL-8

NxA-ECM

NVIDIA AGX / IGX Thor or Orin edge computing module. Data-center-class processing for spacecraft from SmallSats to space stations — and the building block of the Titan orbital data center.

Request a quote Specsheet Documentation
4,000+TFLOPSPer module, Blackwell-based Thor
2U200 × 100 × 100 mm
50+kRadTID tolerance
2×CARDSDual compute, hybrid Thor + Orin optional
4000+ TFLOPS

Modular, scalable compute

  • Compatible with AGX/IGX Thor or Orin modules
  • Distributed computing capable
  • Scalable multi-process-service support
  • Hypervisor available
  • Containerized application deployment
50+ kRad

Radiation resiliency

  • Radiation hardened by system design
  • Smart power arbitration
  • Radiation-hardened watchdog co-processor
  • RAID, BTRFS/ZFS and checkpointing
  • Modular redundant capable
25GRMS

Enclosure design

  • Resilient mechanical design
  • Copper thermal core and dissipation pathways
  • Lockable I/O plate
  • Protected connector design
  • Easily-attachable thermal interface

Inside the module

Two compute cards around a copper core.

Each card carries a Thor or Orin SoM with dual NVMe storage. A central copper thermal core pulls heat to the enclosure; shielding layers and the rad-hard supervisor sit between. A future NxA card variant at the 160 mm 3U VPX length drops the same compute card into a VPX chassis.

NxA-ECM compute card showing dual NVMe drives beside the copper heat spreader
NxA-ECM compute card I/O edge with connectors
NxA-ECM card stack partially assembled
Two NxA-ECM compute cards separated
Top view of an NxA-ECM compute card
Exploded view of the NxA-ECM — enclosure, compute cards, copper core and supervisor
Assembled NxA-ECM enclosure, black anodized with copper thermal plate
NxA-ECM — flight enclosure2U · 200 × 100 × 100 mm
Hardware

Hardware features

  • Powered by NVIDIA AGX/IGX Thor or Orin — modular, multiple-redundant or distributed deployments
  • Hybrid Thor + Orin configuration available; single-card option for SWaP-constrained missions
  • Rad-hard power components, rad-hard watchdog co-processor, resilient memories and shielding
  • External sensor inputs; NxN expansion ecosystem via interposer
Software

Software features

  • In-orbit OTA firmware and software updates via Aether
  • ECM-OS with RAID, resilient filesystems and checkpointing
  • Kubernetes clustering across modules for space data center use cases
  • Multi-process-service compute allocation per application
NxA-ECM enclosure, three-quarter view
NxA-ECM enclosure showing copper plate and I/O face
NxA-ECM standing on end, I/O plate view
NxA-ECM, side view with copper thermal plate
NxA-ECM, rear view

Qualification

Tested the way it flies.

All our products undergo space qualification, involving stringent testing under extreme conditions to ensure robustness and high performance: thermal-vacuum cycling, random vibration and shock, EMI/EMC and radiation testing of the NxA-ECM as a complete module — not just at the component level.

Qualification specifications Specsheet
NxA-ECM with radiator under thermal-vacuum test
NxA-ECM qualification unit on the vibration fixture

FAQ

Common questions

How do you mount a NxA?
The NxA occupies a standard 2U envelope of roughly 200 × 100 × 100 mm. Four corner holes allow mounting with the copper side used for heat dissipation; a bolt pattern for an easily-attachable thermal interface solution is included.
Can you combine an AGX/IGX Orin SoM with a Thor SoM in the same module?
Yes — a hybrid Thor + Orin configuration is available. We do not recommend swapping an Orin module onto a compute card meant for a Thor or vice versa; hardware-level configuration changes are required.
Can you run the module in RAID?
Yes. ECM-OS on the NxA supports RAID, resilient filesystems such as BTRFS or ZFS, and checkpointing.
Can you run just one of the NVIDIA SoMs?
Yes. For SWaP-constrained missions the NxA can be optioned with a single compute card; the other card position is blanked off.
Is the NxA compatible with the NxN expansion ecosystem?
Yes. An interposer option lets the NxA interface with NxN expansion modules — PC-104 adapter, full-size PCIe, RT PolarFire FPGA, OBC (VN-310 + OEM7), SDR (Sidekiq Stretch + DVB-S2X + PA) and more.
What documentation is available?
Datasheet/ICD and CAD files are available upon request. Contact info@aethero.com.

Contact

Looking for NxA pricing?

Tell us your SoM mix, storage, redundancy and clustering requirements and we will return a quote with the specsheet, ICD and CAD package.

Email info@aethero.com Technical Documentation
Headquarters & Salesinfo@aethero.com+1 (917) 338-0634San Francisco, California
Engineeringteam@aethero.com+1 (917) 338-0634Ann Arbor, Michigan