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SPACE / Mission payload / REVIEWED 2026-09-11

A03Digital payload processor

Process and route the mission’s communications traffic.

Manufacturers & products

The digital payload channelizes, routes, beamforms or regenerates communications signals. This category separates communications-ready payload processors from configurable compute boards and semiconductor devices that still need a waveform and system software.

These are sourcing candidates, not a confirmed Starlink supply chain.

manufacturer

CesiumAstro

Reconfigurable Processing Unit (RPU)

A configurable communications processing unit integrates radio and processing functions for multi-channel satellite payloads and can be procured within the vendor’s array payload system. [2][1]

Manufacturer inquiry

Request a technical quotation through the manufacturer; current configuration and availability require confirmation.

Product scope & qualifications

Specify channel count, waveform and RF modules in the quoted configuration.

View product & inquiry route

manufacturer

Ramon.Space

NuComm communications processor

Software-defined communications processing supports channelization, network functions and adaptable satellite payload operation, with software and compute delivered at a higher level than bare silicon. [10][11]

Company location: United States and Israel (company offices)

Manufacturer inquiry

Request a technical quotation through the manufacturer; current configuration and availability require confirmation.

Product scope & qualifications

NuPod general compute and NuStream storage are related products, not equivalent NuComm configurations.

View product & inquiry route

manufacturer

MDA Space

AURORA digital payload and Prime 2.0 ASICs

Integrated digital communications payload capability is complemented by space-grade mixed-signal beamforming ASICs; systems and chips represent different procurement boundaries. [3][4][5]

Custom program inquiry

Request a technical quotation through the manufacturer; current configuration and availability require confirmation.

Product scope & qualifications

Prime 2.0 is a device building block, not a turnkey modem or satellite.

View product & inquiry route

manufacturer

Airbus Defence and Space

High Performance Data Processor and digital payload equipment

Space data-processing and instrument-control equipment provides payload computing functions that can be configured within mission-specific digital architectures. [6]

Custom program inquiry

Request a technical quotation through the manufacturer; current configuration and availability require confirmation.

Product scope & qualifications

Published instrument-processing capability does not establish a ready communications waveform or complete regenerative payload.

View product & inquiry route

manufacturer

Frontgrade

SpaceVPX/VNX mission processing

Modular flight compute, networking and storage building blocks support customer-defined payload processors through configurable processor, FPGA and input/output architectures. [9]

Manufacturer inquiry

Request a technical quotation through the manufacturer; current configuration and availability require confirmation.

Product scope & qualifications

A chassis/module selection still needs the intended communications algorithm and integration.

View product & inquiry route

manufacturer

Xiphos

Q8 and Q8RF/Q8RFG3

Compact FPGA/processor boards and RFSoC variants provide embedded payload computing platforms for custom signal processing and radio architectures. [12][14]

Company location: Montréal, Canada

Manufacturer inquiry

Request a technical quotation through the manufacturer; current configuration and availability require confirmation.

Product scope & qualifications

Q8 is listed with heritage; Q8RF and Q8RFG3 are not listed with equivalent heritage.
Board memory and RF functions differ across variants.

View product & inquiry route

manufacturer

GomSpace

NanoMind HP MK3

A Zynq-based high-performance onboard processing board supports FPGA-intensive payload tasks and customer applications, complementing the vendor’s lower-power command-and-data-handling computers. [16][15][17]

Company location: Aalborg, Denmark

Manufacturer inquiry

Request a technical quotation through the manufacturer; current configuration and availability require confirmation.

Product scope & qualifications

Compute building block; not a complete telecom processor with supplied waveform.

View product & inquiry route

manufacturer

AMD

Space-grade XQR Versal adaptive SoCs

Radiation-tolerant programmable devices offer CPU, programmable logic and accelerator resources for custom payload electronics; the delivery is a semiconductor, not a flight computing box. [18][19]

Manufacturer inquiry

Request a technical quotation through the manufacturer; current configuration and availability require confirmation.

Product scope & qualifications

Board design, memory, power conversion, software and qualification remain the integrator’s responsibility.

View product & inquiry route

manufacturer

Alén Space

TOTEM multi-app radio payload

Configurable radio payload hardware and application software support functions such as signal monitoring, data links and hosted radio applications within an integrated development environment. [20]

Manufacturer inquiry

Request a technical quotation through the manufacturer; current configuration and availability require confirmation.

Product scope & qualifications

Specify included applications and RF front ends; selectable functions are not all simultaneous guaranteed capacities.

View product & inquiry route

manufacturer

Innoflight

Mission Processing Electronics and CFC compute families

Space processing electronics span general-purpose, FPGA and accelerator options, providing a programmable basis for mission payload workloads and communications integration. [21]

Company location: San Diego, California, United States

Manufacturer inquiry

Request a technical quotation through the manufacturer; current configuration and availability require confirmation.

Product scope & qualifications

These are compute platforms; a radio waveform and RF interface are a separate configuration decision.

View product & inquiry route

manufacturer

Anywaves (including EmTroniX)

VILSA software-defined radio payload electronics

Merged antenna and payload-electronics capability includes a space SDR product family for mission signal-processing and RF payload integration. [8][7]

Manufacturer inquiry

Request a technical quotation through the manufacturer; current configuration and availability require confirmation.

Product scope & qualifications

Request a VILSA-specific datasheet and delivered software scope; no numerical throughput is inferred here.

View product & inquiry route

What remains unverified

Publicly documented full communications payload processors are fewer than generic space computers. Several entries are explicitly labeled building blocks.
No claim is made that published peak logic, accelerator or lane counts can process the proposed satellite traffic.
Model-specific radiation test reports, firmware licenses and integration costs generally require vendor discussions.

Where it comes from

A company address is shown separately from a published factory location. Request the manufacturing site and lot traceability for the exact part when sourcing.

What to compare

Processing responsibility
Choose transparent channelization, regenerative demodulation/remodulation, packet routing or beamforming; these imply different interfaces and software.
Usable channel capacity · MHz / Gbps
Compare aggregate processed bandwidth, number of concurrent channels/beams and rate after coding and framing.
Delivered software
Verify waveforms, channelizer/beamformer IP, routing stack, development tools and mission update support.
Compute architecture
Assess CPU, FPGA, DSP, RFSoC and accelerator resources against the real signal-processing workload.
RF and digital interfaces
Match ADC/DAC sampling, synchronization, JESD/SpaceWire/Ethernet and antenna-front-end boundaries.
Memory and data integrity · GB
Distinguish raw versus ECC-protected capacity, persistent storage and upset recovery.
Radiation and fault recovery
Request TID/SEE results for the exact device/board, watchdog design, scrubbing and redundancy strategy.
Power, heat and accommodation · W / kg / mm
Compare processing load and power simultaneously; include enclosure, connectors and required cooling.
Integration and lifecycle
Check engineering versus flight models, SDK licenses, production revision, controlled obsolescence and supplier software support.

Selection & integration notes

A general-purpose onboard computer can be a payload-processing building block, but is not automatically a communications processor.
Chip compute resources do not translate directly into link throughput without a waveform, memory architecture and timing implementation.
Request demonstration of the intended workload and interface chain. Generic peak compute numbers are secondary.
Treat radiation qualification and heritage as model-specific; heritage of an earlier board does not establish flight use of a new RFSoC variant.

Published product examples

3 REFERENCES

Specifications belong to the named product and configuration.

Q8 boardXiphos

Processor: Quad Cortex-A53 up to 1.2 GHz; dual Cortex-R5 up to 500 MHz[13]Q8 Zynq UltraScale+ configuration.
Working memory: 4 GB LPDDR4 with ECC[13]Board configuration in specification sheet.
Typical power: 5 W[13]Workload not specified.
Bare envelope / mass: 80 × 80 × 11.2 mm / 56 g[13]Without connectors.
Operating temperature: −40 to +60 °C[13]Datasheet range.
Supply voltage: 6–15 V[13][12]Current Q8 board specification; not the Q8RF family.

The current product page and August 2026 specification sheet agree on the supply-voltage range. Use a controlled revision when designing the power interface.

Example sources [13][12]

NanoMind HP MK3GomSpace

FPGA/CPU options: Zynq 7030 or 7045; dual Cortex-A9 up to 800 MHz[15]Choose one hardware option.
Programmable logic: 125k or 350k logic cells[15]7030 or 7045 option respectively.
DDR3 capacity: 1 GB raw; 512 MB with ECC enabled[15]Same memory operated with different protection modes.
Boot storage: 256 MB NOR[15]Datasheet DS1036210 v2.3.

Memory and compute resources are not communications throughput.

Example sources [15]

XQRVC1902-1MSBVSRA2197 AI Core deviceAMD

AI Engine resources: 400 tiles[19]XQRVC1902; not the smaller XQRVE2302.
DSP engines: 1,968[19]Part-specific resource count.
GTY transceivers: 44, up to 26.5625 Gbps[19]Per-lane device capability, not application data throughput.
Package: 45 × 45 mm, VSRA2197[19]Device package, not processor-board envelope.

Flight-board integration and exact radiation/quality-level ordering requirements need separate evidence.

Example sources [19]

Sources & references

REVIEWED 2026-09-11

Manufacturer pages and technical documents support the linked claims. A review date is not a publication date or stock check.

Space systems CesiumAstro · Publication date not stated
Spaceborne arrays, processors, radios and integrated payload offerings.
Accessed 2026-09-10
Reconfigurable processing unit CesiumAstro · Publication date not stated
Mission-configurable communications payload processor.
Accessed 2026-09-10
MDA AURORA MDA Space · Publication date not stated
Programmable satellite payload/platform architecture and direct inquiry route.
Accessed 2026-09-10
First MDA AURORA chips shipped MDA Space · Published 2026-04-23
Prime 2.0 mixed-signal beamforming ASIC; device versus integrated system.
Accessed 2026-09-10
MDA Space completes acquisition of SatixFy Communications MDA Space · Published 2025-07-02
Completed acquisition and integration of SatixFy technology.
Accessed 2026-09-10
Digital payload Airbus · Publication date not stated
Payload data-processing and instrument-control equipment.
Accessed 2026-09-10
Space antennas, electronics and RF payload systems Anywaves · Publication date not stated
Merged Anywaves/EmTroniX offering and company locations.
Accessed 2026-09-10
Space antennas, electronics and EGSE equipment Anywaves · Publication date not stated
Current VILSA SDR, LNB and integrated payload electronics families.
Accessed 2026-09-10
Mission processing Frontgrade · Publication date not stated
Configurable space processing, networking and storage building blocks.
Accessed 2026-09-10
Products Ramon.Space · Publication date not stated
NuComm software-defined communications processor and product boundaries.
Accessed 2026-09-10
Software-based digital processor introduction Ramon.Space · Published 2023-03-09
Channelization/beamforming software and United States/Israel company locations.
Accessed 2026-09-10
Q8 processor Xiphos · Publication date not stated
Q8 processing board, current voltage range and company location.
Accessed 2026-09-10
Q8 specification sheet Xiphos · Published 2026-08-13
Board-level Q8 processor, memory, power and physical parameters.
Accessed 2026-09-10
Products Xiphos · Publication date not stated
Different heritage status for Q8 versus Q8RF and Q8RFG3.
Accessed 2026-09-10
NanoMind HP MK3 datasheet DS1036210 v2.3 GomSpace · Published 2024-04-11
Zynq-based payload processing board configuration parameters.
Accessed 2026-09-10
On-board computers GomSpace · Publication date not stated
Current NanoMind HP MK3 portfolio listing.
Accessed 2026-09-10
Products GomSpace · Publication date not stated
Portfolio and Aalborg, Denmark company address.
Accessed 2026-09-10
Space-grade Versal adaptive SoCs AMD · Publication date not stated
Radiation-tolerant adaptive SoCs as device-level building blocks.
Accessed 2026-09-10
XQR Versal product brief AMD · Publication date not stated
XQRVC1902 AI Core part-specific compute resources and package.
Accessed 2026-09-10
Multi-app payload Alén Space · Publication date not stated
Configurable radio payload processing, application software and RF integration.
Accessed 2026-09-10
Product info Innoflight · Publication date not stated
Current SCR-104/SCR-154 S-band radios, mission processing portfolio and San Diego contact.
Accessed 2026-09-10