HPE Spaceborne Computer 4 to launch AI straight to the Moon aboard Astrolab’s FLIP rover

Forget space datacenters.

Before the end of the year, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) will have AI running on the Moon.

This isn’t some exec’s loony fantasy either.

HPE has been building orbital compute platforms for the International Space Station (ISS) for years.

Now, it’s sending its fourth-gen Spaceborne Computer to the Moon aboard Astrolab’s Flex Lunar Innovation Platform (FLIP) lunar rover.

Part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, the rover is set to be deployed near the Moon’s south pole by the Voyager Technologies Griffin-1 lander later this year.

Assuming a safe landing on the surface, FLIP will serve as a test bed for a range of emerging technologies including HPE’s latest space-faring compute platform.

Specifically, Spaceborne Computer 4, which for the sake of brevity we’ll just call SBC4, will carry out a number of AI and HPC-centric experiments during the rover’s year long mission on the lunar pole.

What we know about SBC4 so far The actual silicon powering SBC4 is still a bit of a mystery.

We’re told the reason for the secrecy largely comes down to the high-risk nature of the mission.

If the hardware fails, HPE’s compute partner doesn’t want their name tied to it.

No guts but for the glory, we suppose, though Kioxia doesn't seem too worried.

What we do know is that it is equipped with a low-power central processing unit, a graphics processor, and will be equipped with a pair of mirrored Kioxia SSDs totaling 1 TB of capacity.

That said, while it'll be among the most powerful computers on the Moon, it's still a pretty small system.