As demand for high-performance computing in space continues to grow, engineers must balance increasing processing and bandwidth requirements with the scalability and fault tolerance that mission-critical systems demand.

In this observation deck, industry experts discuss how VITA 78 (SpaceVPX) helps address those challenges through a modular, interoperable architecture designed to support performance, flexibility, and reliability in the demanding space environment.

How is VITA 78 helping engineers balance performance, scalability, and reliability during the design of high-performance embedded computing systems for space applications? 

Justin Moll, Vice President of Sales & Marketing, Pixus Technologies

For space applications, VITA 78 (SpaceVPX) focuses on reliability as system repair is tremendously costly and threatens mission failures. As such, this specification includes requirements for power redundancy to eliminate single points of failure. It also requires two independent communication paths (A/B) so the system can continue operating if one link or module fails, while each module has a dedicated communication path to help isolate failures. It also incorporates popular options such as Spacewire and other Space protocols.

The developers of the VITA 78 also had the foresight to allow multiple board depth options (160mm, 220mm, etc.) and slot pitch (such as 1.0", 1.2", 1.4", etc.) that may be required in certain applications. This adds flexibility to best suit the system's environment. The versatility of the VITA 78 along with its reliability/redundancy additions built upon proven VITA standards makes it a compelling standard for space-based designs. 

Greg Peck, Engineering Manager - Board Level Products, Amphenol Aerospace Operations

At Amphenol Aerospace, we see VITA 78 (SpaceVPX) as the enabling framework that lets engineers stop treating performance, scalability, and reliability as competing priorities. VITA 78 extends the OpenVPX (VITA 65) architecture with requirements written specifically for the space environment. It formalizes how backplanes, modules, and connectors must be architected to support redundant data and power paths, fault detection, and graceful degradation, rather than leaving those decisions to individual program teams. That standardization matters because it lets engineers reuse a common, mission-proven architecture across programs instead of re-solving fault tolerance from scratch every time.

This is also why the standard treats performance and reliability as linked, not opposed. As onboard processing demands grow, the redundancy schemes defined in VITA 78 have to scale alongside signal integrity, without one undermining the other. Modularity is what makes that possible. Standardized module and connector definitions let program teams reconfigure backplanes for different payloads without a ground-up interconnect redesign.

Reliability is where VITA 78 truly earns its place in space architectures. Unlike ground or airborne systems, spacecrafts can't be serviced once launched, and they operate under radiation, thermal cycling, and launch vibration that make component failure more likely than in terrestrial environments. VITA 78 addresses this reality directly by building redundant data and power paths and graceful degradation into the architecture itself, so a single fault doesn't jeopardize the mission.

Patrick Collier, Senior System Engineer and Open Architect, Aspen Consulting Group

VITA 78 (SpaceVPX) continues to provide both users and suppliers the tools to compose and develop systems based on an architecture steeped in modularity and a desire to maximize interoperability to the greatest extent possible. The continued push and pull for commercial standards across multiple marketplaces in space provides ample evidence the initial experiment that is VITA 78 is working. Add to this our agreement to simultaneously increase affordability using those standard sets of hardware, the enhanced set of module and backplane specifications, has furthered this experiment in change into a vibrant marketplace both from the supplier perspective with available products to the user perspective with a near constant request for those products.