Satellite data is increasingly useful for scientists, enabling aerial mapping and weather prediction, and monitoring deforestation. However, at present, most satellites can only collect this data passively, and transmit it to Earth for analysis. 

But what if machine learning tools could work in outer space? 

To overcome these restrictions, a group of researchers led by Vít Růžička, a PhD student at the University of Oxford, took on the challenge of training the first machine learning program in outer space.

The team was able to partner with the Dashing Through The Stars mission, which had issued an open call for project proposals to be carried out on board the ION SCV004 satellite, launched in January 2022. During the autumn of that year, the team uplinked the code for the program to the satellite already in orbit.

The researchers trained a simple model to detect changes in cloud cover from aerial images directly on board the satellite, in contrast to...