VictoriaMetrics: An open-source data platform helping satellites get to orbit

5 Aug 2022

Image: © dimazel/Stock.adobe.com

VictoriaMetrics’ data monitoring platform will be used by Open Cosmos as it looks to launch low-Earth orbit satellites.

A Ukrainian start-up that provides monitoring services for companies has taken on a new task – helping to get satellites into orbit.

VictoriaMetrics has developed an open-source time series database and monitoring platform.

Founded in 2018 by former engineers of Google, Cloudflare and Lyft, the company said it has seen “unprecedented growth” in the last year. It surpassed 50m downloads in April and has gained customers include Grammarly, Wix, Adidas and Brandwatch.

Now, VictoriaMetrics is teaming up with UK-based space-tech company Open Cosmos to power the launch of its low-Earth orbit satellites.

Helping launch satellites

VictoriaMetrics said its services address the needs of organisations with increasingly complex data volumes and the demand for better observability platforms. Designed to be scalable for a wide variety of sectors, it offers a free version of its service and a paid enterprise option for those who want custom features and priority support.

Open Cosmos specialises in satellite manufacturing, testing, launch and in-orbit exploitation. It needed an application that could provide insights into the data powering its satellites.

The space-tech business has now integrated the VictoriaMetrics platform into its mission-critical satellite control and data distribution platform. Open Cosmos is also using a VictoriaMetrics feature that lets it take metrics from satellites and ground equipment across different labs and test facilities, before uploading them to mission control software.

“The health of our customers’ space assets is highly important, and VictoriaMetrics’ monitoring is crucial for ensuring our satellites remain healthy, playing an indispensable role in powering our satellite alert system,” said Open Source ground segment technical lead Pep Rodeja.

“The fact that VictoriaMetrics is completely open source has been a massive benefit too, allowing us to fork the technology to space-specific problems far beyond our initial expectations.”

Data is the new oil

Speaking about the company’s growth, VictoriaMetrics co-founder Roman Khavronenko told SiliconRepublic.com that the start-up was “in the right time, in the right place”.

He said that “observability” became more of a focus for companies in recent years, and good systems were needed to collect and process data.

“Data is like a new oil,” Khavronenko added. “The more data you have, the more insight you have and the more predictions you can build on that.

“VictoriaMetrics was designed to address these high-scalability requirements for monitoring systems and remain simple and reliable at the same time.”

While its founders are based in Ukraine, VictoriaMetrics is headquartered in San Francisco and has an expanding team distributed across Europe and the US. Khavronenko said the company’s main aim in the future is developing its team, as success does not come from the product but “the team behind the product”.

“In the next three, five years, I hope that we will expand and build more independent teams inside VictoriaMetrics, which will be able to produce even better products to expand even further and bring better ideas and simplify observability in the world.”

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Leigh Mc Gowran is a journalist with Silicon Republic

editorial@siliconrepublic.com