The HPE Spaceborne Computer-2 (SBC-2), which is deployed on the International Space Station (ISS), has successfully completed 24 research experiments requiring real-time data processing. These experiments spanned uses cases supporting healthcare, image processing, natural disaster recovery, 3D printing, 5G, and solutions enabled by artificial intelligence.
HPE launched Spaceborne Computer-2, in collaboration with the ISS National Laboratory, to space in February 2021 and was installed on the ISS in May 2021. The solution is comprised of HPE’s edge computing solutions, the HPE Edgeline Converged EL4000 Edge system, which provides a rugged and compact system designed to perform in harsher edge environments, such as space, and the HPE ProLiant DL360 server, an industry-standard server, for additional high-performing capabilities to target a range of workloads, including edge, HPC, AI, etc.
The edge computing capabilities delivered through SBC-2 also have the potential to enable astronauts and space explorers to send data to Earth, whether to be further analyzed or used in another way, at a radically compressed size and faster speed. Previously, 1.8 GB of raw DNA sequence data took an average time of 12.2 hours just to download to Earth for initial processing. With SBC-2, researchers onboard the space station processed that same data in six minutes to gather meaningful insights, compressed it to 92 KB and sent it to Earth in just two seconds, representing a 20,000X speed-up.
“By introducing edge computing and AI capabilities to the International Space Station with Spaceborne Computer-2, we have helped foster a growing, collaborative research community that shares a common goal to make scientific and engineering breakthroughs that benefit humankind, on space and here on Earth,” said Dr. Mark Fernandez, principal investigator, Spaceborne Computer-2, at HPE. “We are proud of this ongoing work, which has already resulted in 24 completed experiments, from various organizations, demonstrating new possibilities for space exploration and milestones for humanity.”
https://www.hpe.com/us/en/compute/hpc/supercomputing/spaceborne.html
