Thesis Orbital
21Selected Work

engineered for the extremes

We deploy emerging technologies in the world’s most extreme environments.

Note from the founder

Lee Tran

My family were prisoners of war who fled Vietnam as refugees. Growing up, I witnessed the struggle to escape poverty and technology’s potential to create extraordinary wealth.

Leaving home, I deployed computing technology in extreme environments, from the Amazon rainforest to South African townships. This work led me to partner with NASA, the International Space Station, and the U.S. House of Representatives to advance computing research into space.

Now, we're building era-defining computing technology for offices, remote environments, and orbit—empowering the next generation to build, compete, and thrive for the next 100 years.

Join us on this adventure to bring intelligence to the furthest reaches of Earth and space.

Lee Tran presenting at the U.S. House of Representatives
NVIDIA experiment presented at the House of Representatives
Lee Tran integrating the NVIDIA experiment at a NASA partner facility
Integrating payload at NASA partner facility
Who We’ve Worked With
NASA logo
Microsoft logo
U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory logo
ISS National Laboratory logo
U.S. House of Representatives logo
National Science Foundation logo
NASA logo
Microsoft logo
U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory logo
ISS National Laboratory logo
U.S. House of Representatives logo
National Science Foundation logo
22Featured Experience
International Space Station orbiting above Earth
Mission 01

Earth's most advanced laboratory

Mission 01

International Space Station

Bringing AI to Earth's most advanced laboratory

LEO

Low Earth Orbit

ISS

Flight destination
NVIDIA processor module
Research Focus: ISS Project Manager

Deployed NVIDIA-powered computing platforms in space to advance edge computing research. Technology presented to the U.S. House of Representatives and designated as a high-priority national research initiative.

Payload is cleared to launch on Falcon 9 Rocket in December 2026

The Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, and U.S. Capitol at dusk
Mission 02

AI & Cloud Infrastructure for Government

Mission 02

Microsoft Federal

AI & Cloud Infrastructure for Government

1,007

Government accounts

$3B

Business represented
Research Focus: Program Manager at Microsoft

Analyzed $3B in federal spending to optimize engineering capacity for cloud and AI investments, accelerating secure cloud and AI adoption across the U.S. defense, civilian, and intelligence agencies.

Earth and its cloud systems viewed from orbit
Mission 03

Earth Observation Satellites

Mission 03

NASA and U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory

Earth Observation Satellites

$1.3M

R&D Value

30

Engineering team
Nanosatellite payload module with integrated computing boards
Program Manager, Nanosatellite Program

Built early experiment deploying AI computing in space, using NVIDIA Jetson-class technology for Structure-from-Motion, autonomous perception, and algorithm compression to model Earth's surface.