- AXIOM SPACE AND RED HAT IMPLIED AXDCU-1 PROTOTYPE DATA CENTER A LA ISS
- The system uses Microshift Kubernetes, Delta Updates and Selfocuration for Orbital Conditions
- Researchers expect local data processing in ISS to accelerate experiments
A Prototype Data Center has reached the International Space Station (ISS) to test if land computer systems can operate in orbit.
The device, called AxDCU-1, was developed by Axiom Space and runs the edge platform of the Red Hat device. It was delivered aboard the 33rd Commercial Repurchase Mission of Spacex on August 24. The project, on which we wrote earlier, was sponsored by the ISS National Laboratory.
The objective is to see if the data can be processed directly in orbit instead of sending back to Earth through limited satellite descending links.
Data processing in space
The system executes containerized applications, similar to those of modern data centers, but adapted for orbital conditions where connectivity is poor and hardware must work independently.
It is built around a light version of Kubernetes called microshift that is designed for environments with limited resources, allowing to update and manage container workloads remotely.
“The platform incorporates automated reversals and self -care capabilities through Delta updates and health monitoring,” said Tony James, chief architect of science and space in Red Hat, said Knowledge of the Data Center.
Delta software updates only transmit changed code parts to minimize bandwidth use.
“These characteristics are especially critical in space, since they serve as safeguarding to allow the system to detect failures and return to a stable state without human intervention,” James added.
Patrick O’Neill, from the NSS National Laboratory, said that bandwidth limitations have long been a problem for researchers. “Over the years, a limiting resource for the research community at the space station was data transfer and data analysis almost in real time,” he said.
Data processing could allow scientists to adjust experiments while they are still executing, with particular benefits in life sciences and biomedical research.
The deployment also acts as a trial bed for future commercial space stations.
Axiom Space is building its own station, which will need a more advanced data processing than the ISS currently provides.
The containerized approach is intended to admit EDGE AI applications, automation and mission criticism on future orbital platforms.
Axiom is not the only start that sends data centers to space. LASTAR Data Holdings successfully tested a data center defined by software in the ISS in 2021 and 2022, before making a complete demonstration of data storage from the moon surface in 2024.
