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Architecture

Astral runs geocomputation inside a self-contained Docker container, designed to execute within a Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) via EigenCompute. This page describes how the system is built.
Deployment status. Astral has run these services on real TEE hardware in test deployments, but does not currently fund continuous operation on attested hardware. The hosted staging service signs results with a key Astral controls; continuous remote attestation of the running enclave is target-state, not a live guarantee today. A valid signature today proves that a key Astral holds produced the result — not yet that an independently attested enclave did. See What you are trusting for the full accounting. If you want to evaluate Astral against real TEEs, reach out at contact@astral.global.

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Execution model

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Container design

PostGIS runs inside the Docker container, not as an external service. This is essential for verifiable computation in the TEE — no external dependencies means the entire execution environment is attested.
Each request brings all required inputs. No persistent state between requests. This ensures determinism and simplifies verification — same inputs always produce same outputs.
The service holds a signing key that is generated within the TEE or securely provisioned. The design intent is that the operator cannot extract it — a property that holds when the enclave runs under remote attestation (see deployment status above). All signed results are produced with this key.

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Internal computation flow

PostGIS uses GEOS for geometry operations — the same C++ library used by QGIS, GDAL, and most professional geospatial software.

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Why this architecture

The design choices above serve a single goal: making geocomputation results verifiable.
  • Self-contained means the TEE attestation covers the entire execution environment. No external database calls that could be intercepted or altered.
  • Stateless means determinism is straightforward. Given the same inputs, the container produces the same output every time.
  • Key inside TEE means that, when the enclave runs under attestation, the signing key cannot be extracted or used outside it. If you trust the TEE — and the enclave is attested — you trust the signature. Today, a valid signature proves a key Astral controls produced the result; binding that key to a continuously attested enclave is target-state, not a live guarantee.

Next: What is verified

What the signature covers and what computation reproducibility means