SpaceComputer Partners with Tropic Square: Open Security Hardware for Orbital Compute

We’re thrilled to announce that SpaceComputer and Tropic Square are entering a partnership. Tropic Square is a Prague-based semiconductor firm building the world's first open-source, auditable secure element (SE). Tropic Square's TROPIC01 chip is being integrated into our Space Fabric hardware design as one of two independent secure elements that together form the verifiable foundation of SpaceComputer's orbital compute architecture. 

This partnership marks the first time the TROPIC01 will be deployed in a space environment in upcoming missions.

SpaceComputer's Space Fabric architecture relies on dual secure elements for two main reasons: supply chain resistance and to mitigate a single point of failure in the space environment. Every attestation produced by the system must be co-signed by two secure elements from independent vendors: the TROPIC01 from Tropic Square and the NXP SE050. This solution is designed with space deployment in mind and ensures the integrity of the system against sophisticated threats. All secure signing keys are generated on-orbit after launch, eliminating the pre-launch supply chain attack surface entirely.

The TROPIC01 is a RISC-V-based secure element designed to be independently verifiable. Its architecture is open source and publicly auditable, with device-unique PUF-derived secrets used internally to protect secure storage rather than being exposed as application keys. For reliable, cryptographically verifiable identity and authentication, TROPIC01 implements chip-unique key pairs and a manufacturer-signed certificate, while also supporting flexible secure storage and multi-vendor pairing. The chip entered the market about a year ago and has attracted significant interest from the broader security community across various applications.

“Dual-vendor secure elements reduce dependency on a single chip, supplier, or trust anchor in orbital compute. Open and auditable hardware is essential because space systems must be trusted remotely long after launch. With on-orbit key generation, the satellite can create its own cryptographic identity directly in space. In other words: no critical key has ever existed on Earth."

writes Filip Rezabek, Co-founder and CTO of SpaceComputer. 

TROPIC01 is integrated into the satellite payload as a hardware root of trust within the broader Space Fabric architecture. We see two primary use cases:

First, it can support the attestation and trust-establishment flow by securely storing hardware-bound keys and contributing to the verification chain of the onboard compute environment. In this role, it helps bind cryptographic identity and key material to the physical payload. This allows the satellite system to provide stronger guarantees about which hardware and software stack is operating in orbit.

Second, we can utilize the SE cryptographic identity binding for sensors and data-origin authentication. Sensor data can be cryptographically signed close to the point of capture, allowing downstream systems to verify that the data originated from the expected onboard hardware and was not modified later in the processing pipeline. This is especially relevant for trusted telemetry, payload measurements, and verifiable data products generated in orbit.

Beyond security, we have to consider preparing TROPIC01 for general space operations. We have designed a layered protection approach that includes: ground testing beyond expected limits, temperature monitoring, PCB and payload shielding, software recovery mechanisms such as retries, watchdogs, validation, and safe-mode behavior, plus hardware redundancy for critical functions. Further, the payload is designed for an internal temperature range of approximately -30°C to 90°C, which TROPIC01 is expected to handle well. All of these protective considerations optimize the SE for the harsh environment of Space.

"When you are building systems for orbit, absolute cryptographic trust is foundational. We're proud to see TROPIC01 selected for this mission, and for our team it's a strong sign that our architecture is earning trust in the toughest environment. Taking open hardware security beyond its terrestrial roots is a huge milestone, and we genuinely love the project SpaceComputer is building and the clarity of their vision for open, verifiable orbital compute,"

said Pavel Polach, Head of Product at Tropic Square.

Taking open, auditable security hardware into orbit is a first for both companies. For Tropic Square, it extends the reach of the TROPIC01 beyond terrestrial applications and into an entirely new operating environment. For SpaceComputer, it validates our foundational design decision to make security hardware supporting orbital compute open and independently verifiable. 

We are actively integrating and testing TROPIC01 into our payloads and plan to bring it up on our upcoming missions. More details coming soon! 

For more information, visit spacecomputer.io and tropicsquare.com.