SmallSats are Having a Moment … Cloud and Edge Computing Opportunities
SmallSats are having a moment. They are generally smaller and cheaper and can support more frequent launches with quicker response times for urgent national security needs; they support proliferated and resilient architectures that can withstand system failures and adversarial attacks; they facilitate innovation through experimentation, development, and testing; and they are increasingly accessible to an array of users, from small companies to universities to economically developing countries.
In addition, advances in cloud and edge computing are providing SmallSats with more power and communications capacity for a growing number of applications in space. This will be critically important as government and commercial expand into cislunar and deeper space missions and move beyond the aid of terrestrial data processing. Structuring this growing volume of edge and cloud nodes for network optimization in space is a topic of focus at the 2024 SmallSat Symposium in Mountain View, CA, on February 6-8th, where experts will explore the state of these technologies now and envision future use cases that we could see five and ten years out.
Cloud, Fog, and Edge Computing
Cloud computing allows storing and processing large amounts of structured and unstructured data in a centralized data center. Edge computing is decentralized and provides real-time responsive data processing closer to end users. Fog computing is the processing layer in between, which is organized as a series of distributed nodes that receive real-time data from Internet of Things (IoT) devices at the 'edge.' It periodically sends information to the cloud, depending on the level of computing or storage required, and discriminates what is relevant or not, which increases efficiency because not all temporary data needs to be stored in perpetuity.
Design Considerations
Cloug, fog, and edge computing requirements drive design and infrastructure (hardware and software) decision and require balancing the right mix of resources for optimal performance.
The location of the data and what the operator wants to do with the data are primary in the decision calculus for structuring the network, along with other considerations in play:
- Processing power, storage – while edge’s proximity to data is advantageous for managing time-sensitive applications including increased speed and efficiency of data sampling and analysis, cloud has much more processing power and data storage is less expensive.
- Security – cloud providers typically manage security updates, while users at the edge are responsible for updates and managing edge’s increased threat surface area
- Environmental impact and emissions – edge processing reduces the need to transport information long distances to a data center, resulting in less energy usage.
Other considerations to weigh in optimizing network architecture include requirements or performance needs for distribution of analytical results; stability under unreliable network conditions; ability to predict and reallocate resource use based on user preferences or quality of service; and ability to tailor or generalize adaptive artificial intelligence (AI) models.
Use Cases for Edge
SmallSats edge computing nodes could ge useful for a wide range of applications, including monitoring weather for crop health and yield predictions; responding to natural disasters; detailed mapping of urban areas to improve infrastructure and reduce environmental impact on; and monitoring borders, coast, ships, and aircraft for illegal activities and law enforcement. The declining cost of satellite launches allow SmallSats to enter these IoT markets and provide lucrative solutions. This trend is projected to increase, as a study by ABI Research indicates that satellite IoT connections will grow from 10.4 million in 2022 to 27.0 million in 2030. Even today Carnegie Mellon University’s orbital edge computing program is integrating machine learning techniques into SmallSat constellations for analytical insights, including monitoring for suspicious activity at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Looking to the Future
In the future, capability at the edge will could enable satellites to use artificial intelligence to conduct analysis of satellite health and performance to help heal or reposition satellites. The trend toward in-orbit data processing will help support future planned terrestrial applications that will require more memory and processing speed.
The conversation continues! Join us back here after the Summit for more on how the experts weighed in In the meantime, share with us your thoughts on the future of SmallSats in cloud-edge computing environments, including what roles commercial and government should have in promoting and investing in space-based cloud and edge computing, and ideas on what the future will look like as we explore cloud and edge innovation in two years, five years, and beyond.
Lori W. Gordon is the Systems Director in the Engagements Office of The Aerospace Corporation. She is a technology strategist in national and homeland security, cybersecurity, and infrastructure risk and resilience. A fellow at the National Security Institute, Lori has a bachelor's degree in geography from the University of Maryland and a master's degree in public administration from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Getting It Right focuses on industry collaboration for mission success by sharing lessons learned, best practices, and engineering advances in response to the nation’s toughest challenges. It is published by the Aerospace Corporate Chief Engineer’s Office.