HPE Plans to Deploy Fourth-Generation Spaceborne Computer on Lunar Rover
HPE announces its fourth-generation Spaceborne Computer will ride aboard the Astrolab FLIP rover to the lunar south pole for edge computing tasks.
US technology company HPE (Hewlett Packard Enterprise) announced that its fourth-generation "Spaceborne Computer" will be deployed on Astrolab's FLIP lunar rover for a year-long mission to the lunar south pole. The rover will arrive via Voyager Technologies' Griffin-1 lander, launching from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.
This deployment is part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program. While specific hardware specifications remain undisclosed due to concerns over failure risks, the system is known to use a low-powered CPU and 1TB of mirrored storage, measuring just 5 x 10 inches. Compared to the third-generation system, it has less storage capacity to accommodate weight restrictions for cislunar travel.
Astrolab CEO Jaret Matthews stated that having edge compute capability on the Moon is crucial because of the time delay in sending data back to Earth. The Spaceborne Computer 4 will process telemetry data and other information locally, shipping back insights rather than raw data to save bandwidth. This marks a further expansion of AI and high-performance computing applications in extreme environments.