November 10, 2026

A satellite in orbit played Doom after hearing a human voice

Radio amateurs in Oslo said "play Doom" over the radio, and a European Space Agency test satellite understood, launched the game and sent a postcard back.

• Radio amateurs in Oslo spoke "PRETTY PLAY DOOM" to ESA's OPS-SAT PRETTY satellite on 27 July 2026, and it launched the game on its own.
• A 27 MB speech model on board turned the radio audio into words, and a matcher looked for the command in them.
• It took seven attempts, shared with a group in Poland, and the live voice was detected on one of five usable captures.
• Tanagra Space calls it the first time a satellite has been commanded by plain spoken language and acted on it in orbit.

Why it matters: Radio amateurs in Oslo spoke "PRETTY PLAY DOOM" to ESA's OPS-SAT PRETTY satellite, and its onboard speech model transcribed the voice, matched the command and launched the 1993 game. It happened on 27 July 2026, with a synthesized voice in the morning and a live operator in the evening. Researchers call it the first voice command of a satellite. They now plan repeat runs that keep the raw audio for better testing.