article
Satellite autonomy needs boring failure modes
Autonomy in orbit is valuable precisely where communication is limited, but novelty is least useful during a fault.
Emil Shirokikh · September 15, 2026 · 3 min read
Topic
Space & Infrastructure
Orbital, ground segment and infrastructure engineering.
article
Downlink is a product decision
A mission that collects more than it can move has not solved sensing; it has moved product selection into orbit.
Emil Shirokikh · September 14, 2026 · 2 min read
article
The ground segment is the mission
Space programmes celebrate hardware while ground software quietly determines whether operators can command, understand and recover it.
Emil Shirokikh · September 13, 2026 · 2 min read
article
Edge inference after the demo
Running a model once on target hardware is not evidence that it belongs in a mission.
Emil Shirokikh · September 12, 2026 · 2 min read
article
Space software cannot borrow web risk
The web assumption that software can be patched quickly is dangerous when access windows, certification and physical consequence constrain recovery.
Emil Shirokikh · September 11, 2026 · 2 min read
article
Space data moats are overstated
Owning imagery does not automatically create a durable advantage when customers struggle to turn it into an operational decision.
Emil Shirokikh · September 10, 2026 · 2 min read
research
The Cosmological Principle
A Bachelor of Science thesis reviewing differential-geometric foundations of cosmology, spacetime manifolds, the FLRW metric and cosmological redshift.
Emil Shirokikh · October 28, 2021 · 10 min read