AWS sent a Snowcone to space

Atitsre:Marsconference,AmazontodayannouncedthatitquietlysentoneofitsAWSSnowconeedgecomputingandstoragedevicesintospaceontheAxiommissiontotheInternationalSpaceStation.

Forthemostpart,thiswasanoff-the-shelfSnowcone,whichAWSalreadybuilttoberuggedenoughtobeshippedbyUPS,thoughthecompanyhadtodomonthsoftestingtogetitcertifiedforthisflight.

“Whenyouthinkaboutprovidingcloudcomputingtotheedge,inremote,disconnected,ruggedenvironments—after35yearsinthespaceindustry—thereisnomoreharsh,remoteorrugged environmentorunforgiving,quitefrankly,thanthespaceenvironment,”saidClintCrosier,thedirectorofAerospaceandSatelliteatAWSandaretiredUnitedStatesAirForcemajorgeneralwhohelpedoverseethefoundationoftheU.S.SpaceForcebeforeheretiredandthenjoinedAWSlastyear.“Withspacea$425billionglobalindustrytodaythat’sprojectedtobea$1trillionindustryby2040byallthemajoranalysts—triplingthenumberofsatellitesthatarelaunchedbetween2018and2022—forallthosereasons,customersaretellingusthattheyneedthesamecloudcomputingcapabilitiesclosetotheirworkloadsthathappentobeofftheplanetinspaceastheydoontheground.”

TheAWSSnowconeSSDonboardtheInternationalSpaceStationduringtheAx-1mission,priortoinstallation.ImageCredits:AWS

TocertifytheSnowcone,thesmallestoftheSnowfamilyofedgecomputinganddatatransferdevices,AWShadtorunitthroughfivemonthsofNASA’sthermal,vacuum,acousticandvibrationtesting(withnoradiationtestingneededbecausethedevicewasgoingtobeusedintheshieldedISSenvironment).Onceitarrivedonthespacestation,theteam,whichwasledbyAWS’sDarylShuck,connectedit,uploadedanMLmodelforobjectdetectiontoitandranitthroughoutthetimeoftheAxiommission.

TheastronautsontheAxiommissionperformedatotalof25experiments—includingtheSnowballexperiment.AsCrosiernoted,theyhadtotakepicturesanddocumentalloftheequipmenttheybroughtonboardandthentransporteddownwiththem.TheobjectdetectionmodelontheSnowconehelpedthemcatalogalloftheseitems(andflagthosethatweretobeexcludedfrompublicdistribution).

Crosieradmittedthatthiswasarelativelysimpledemonstrationbutgoingthroughthecertificationprocesstaughtthecompanyalotandalsosetthestageforfuturemissions.“Thatwasthedemothatwedidinorbit,butthewholeprocess,aswethinkaboutthefuturerequirementsforcloudcomputinginspace,that’swhatwe’rereallyexcitedaboutbecausewethinkitushersinawholenewerainspaceinnovation—whenyoucannow,forthefirsttimeever,bringedgecomputingcapabilities ontoorbit,”hesaid.

Andthat’swhatthisisreallyabout.Becausethegoalhereisn’tsomuchtakingexistingSnowconesoritslargerbrethrenintospace,buttakingwhattheteamslearnsfromthesemissions(andAmazonisalreadyworkingwithAxiomonfuturemissions)andthenmaybeintegratemoresophisticatededgecomputingcapabilitiesintosatellites,too.Whatexactlythat’lllooklikeremainstobeseen.AsanyAmazonexecwhohasgonethroughthecompany’smediatrainingwilltellyouineveryinterview,thecompanylistenstoitscustomersandworksfromthere.

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“Weworkwithourcustomerstomeettheirneeds,”Crosiersaid.“That’soneofthehallmarksatAWSand ofthethingsI’velearnedaboutjoiningthemafter33yearsintheU.S.military.Andsoifcustomersseethevalueandneedforputting[edge]computingcapabilitiesonsatellites,youcanrightlyexpectthatwe’relisteningtothatandwe’refiguringouthowwecanmeettheirneeds.”

Already,AmazonandAWSareworkingwithBlueOrigintoprovidethecomputingcapabilitiesofitscommercialOrbitalReefspacestation.