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High Performance Spacecraft Computing (HPSC)

The objective of HPSC is to develop a next-generation flight computing system that addresses computational performance, energy management and fault tolerance needs of NASA missions through 2040 and beyond.

Learn More about High Performance Spacecraft Computing (HPSC)

Lead Center

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Introduced

October 2011

Lead Investigator

Wesley Powell

Project Manager

Jim Butler

NASA’s High Performance Spaceflight Computing (HPSC) project is developing flight computing technology that will provide at least 100 times the computational capacity compared to current spaceflight computers. The HPSC project will deliver newly designed multicore computing chips with multiple processing cores on each chip, bundled with operating software to run them. A team of engineers from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) are formulating the HPSC development approach. This NASA team will provide technical management of the design and delivery of the computing chips.

Natural radiation in space damages electronic parts, eventually leading to their failure, and also introduces errors into the computations performed there. In addition, because of the time it takes for signals to travel from Earth to distant locations in space, many space activities have to be performed without help from Earth. HPSC will be specially designed to survive in space and also contain features to ensure it is able to operate and provide reliable results that can be used for the most critical operations needed: for instance, robotically landing on or flying on another planet, supporting astronauts far from the earth, or operating near small bodies in the outer solar system. Because electrical power is often in short supply, HPSC is designed to be able to process data 100 times faster than current space-qualified computers using the same amount of power. It also allows functions to be turned off when they are not in use and less power if it is not needed.

HPSC
Future NASA human spaceflight and robotic science missions will require more powerful space-based computing for autonomy, high-data-rate instruments, and human-robotic interactions.
NASA

Current space-qualified computing technology must be configured around the part of a mission that requires the most power – a practice which targets mission success but leads to inefficient use of resources over the lifetime of a mission. For example, a Mars surface mission has extreme needs for high-speed data movement and intense calculation, as well as stringent fault tolerance, during the planetary landing sequence. The flight computer must be configured to meet these needs, which draws significant power and other resources. However, once safely landed, routine mobility and science operations may rarely need that same level of capability, at least not in a sustained manner. Nighttime operations can require even less resources. HPSC’s improved design offer the flexibility for the computing processing power to ebb and flow depending on the mission and operational requirements. This will save a large amount of energy and improve overall computing efficiency.

Because of this energy saving and increased computing efficiency, this high-performing computing chip will benefit many areas of spaceflight operations, including extreme terrain landing, managing a vehicle’s health, automated guidance, navigation and control, autonomous and telerobotic construction, and more. Because all types of NASA missions require computing capabilities, this updated chip could benefit all of NASA’s future undertakings, from Earth science missions, to deep space missions, to human spaceflight.

The HPSC team is working to finalize the architecture and design, processor technology, and production and commercialization approach for the chips, and to prepare for demonstrations on space platforms and lunar landers. The overall HPSC project is managed by JPL in Pasadena, California.

Future NASA space mission scenarios require an improved computing system with significantly expanded computational performance and more efficient use of energy. HPSC will achieve these spaceflight computing needs over the next two decades, offering unprecedented opportunity for future advancements and upgrades in a flight computing system.