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Project Description

The ORCHIDE (Orchestration of Reliable Computing on Heterogeneous Infrastructures Deployed at the Edge) project aims to allow a safe and secure deployment and orchestration of image processing applications within Earth Observation Satellites, regardless of the hardware processing resources and of the hosting software execution platform.

Payloads for Earth Observation missions have become more complex, requiring on-board processing. The solutions currently allowing deployment and orchestration of applications at the edge rely on standard technologies used in the cloud computing area, but there is a need to adapt them for edge computing contexts, such as space systems.

The ORCHIDE project develops a generic framework for orchestration, leveraging Unikernel solutions to provide easier acces to space with a simple application that can be updated or modified during the lifetime of the satellite.

Orchestration​

The project aims to use existing orchestration systems, adapting them for usage on lightweight, remote systems, which can even lose connection to the central machines. It will also integrate these solutions with existing Unikernel solutions, which have been identified as a key technology, due to the intrinsic characteristics, such as isoltaion through virtualisation, lightweight software payloads and security.

Unikernels​

Unikernels are an emerging technology for building lightweight and secure applications tailored to the specific requirements of the deployment environment. The build on the foundation of virtualisation technology, which allows multiple operating systems to run on the same hardware without any overhead, but take this technology one step forward by combining application code with operating systems code into a single, self-contained unit that is optimised for performance, security, and resource efficiency.

Unikernels achieve this by stripping down the operating system to only the necessary components required by the application, resulting in smaller and more efficient applciations that are tailored to specific use cases.

Unikerneles are particularly useful for satellite applications, where resource efficiency and security are paramount.