SAN FRANCISCO, CA — SEPTEMBER 1, 2026 — Vellex Computing has been selected by NASA for a 2026 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I contract to develop AURA (Analog Unified Reconfigurable Accelerator), a programmable analog coprocessor designed to run AI adaptation workloads directly on spacecraft without ground support.
The Phase I contract spans six months, laying the groundwork for a Phase II chip fabrication program. Vellex's prototype has demonstrated a 17,000x speedup over conventional digital solvers at sub-10 milliwatt power levels.
"We are proud to be working with NASA on one of the fundamental challenges in space autonomy," said Dr. Palak Jain, CEO and Co-Founder of Vellex Computing. "American leadership in space depends on computing that can operate independently, at the edge of the solar system and beyond. AURA is our contribution to that mission."
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About Vellex Computing
Vellex Computing is a Stanford-spinout analog semiconductor company developing ultra-low-power chips for AI training. Powered by a decade of research and backed by the U.S. National Science Foundation, NASA, and the Department of Energy, Vellex's technology delivers AI training at a fraction of the energy cost of GPU-based solutions. Vellex is headquartered in San Francisco, CA.
contact@vellex.ai | vellex.ai
About the NASA SBIR/STTR Program
NASA's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs fund early-stage research and development at U.S. small businesses, advancing technologies with the potential to meet NASA mission needs and reach the commercial market. Phase I contracts establish the technical merit and feasibility of a proposed innovation.
Learn more at nasa.gov/sbir_sttr
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