NASA's Space Computing Breakthrough Powers Future Missions

Electronics & Sensors INSIDER

NASA’s new processor fits in your hand, delivers full system-on-a-chip power, and is built to survive deep space with far greater speed than current spacecraft technology. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA's High Performance Spaceflight Computing project aims to significantly increase spacecraft computing power. Future space missions will require processors that not only can survive harsh conditions but also enable autonomous spacecraft, accelerate scientific discovery, and support future missions to the Moon and Mars. The main focus of the High Performance Spaceflight Computing project is a new radiation-hardened, high-performance processor capable of delivering 100 times the computing capacity of current spaceflight computers.

This system-on-a-chip (SoC) processor is small enough to fit in your hand and contains all essential computer components, including CPUs, computational offload units, networking units, memory, and input/output interfaces. While SoCs are typically used in smartphones and tablets, the versions tested by JPL are specially engineered to endure years in space, offer increased resiliency, and withstand extreme conditions that no consumer device could withstand.

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California has been testing the chip under simulated space conditions. The project is managed by NASA’s Game Changing Development program at Langley and JPL and is being developed through a commercial partnership with Microchip Technology Inc., established in 2022.

The processor must pass rigorous tests to prove it can survive spaceflight, including exposure to radiation and temperature swings. Once certified, NASA will use the chip in its Earth orbiters, planetary rovers, habitats, and deep space missions. The technology will enable autonomous spacecraft to use artificial intelligence, analyze data faster, and support future human missions to the Moon and Mars.

“Building on the legacy of previous space processors, this new multicore system is fault-tolerant, flexible, and extremely high-performing,” said Eugene Schwanbeck, program element manager in NASA’s Game Changing Development program at the agency’s Langley Research Center, in Hampton, Virginia. “NASA’s commitment to advancing spaceflight computing is a triumph of technical achievement and collaboration.”

Microchip will also adapt this technology for use in Earth-based industries, including aviation and automotive manufacturing. The flexibility of High Performance Spaceflight Computing not only advances NASA’s space exploration but also offers valuable tools for a range of industries on Earth.

“We are putting these new chips through the wringer by carrying out radiation, thermal, and shock tests while also evaluating their performance through a rigorous functional test campaign,” said Jim Butler, High Performance Space Computing project manager at JPL. “To simulate real-world performance, we are using high-fidelity landing scenarios from real NASA missions that would typically require power-intensive hardware to process huge volumes of landing-sensor data. This is an exciting time for us to be working on hardware that will enable NASA’s next giant leaps.”

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