April 25, 2025
McLean, VA and Menlo Park, CA 鈥� 蘑菇视频 Allen Hamilton (NYSE: BAH) and Meta today 听the development and successful demonstration of a novel AI-powered tech stack, accelerated by NVIDIA CUDA GPUs, to support critical work on the International Space Station (ISS) National Lab. This effort is believed to be the first of its kind, setting the stage for space exploration and operations across a variety of disconnected environments.
The goal in building the tech stack鈥攄ubbed 鈥淪pace Llama鈥濃�攊s to not only replace paper documents onboard the ISS National Lab, but also decrease reliance on instructions received from the ground while deployed at the edge. The result will be lower costs, less compute power required, and faster outcomes when responding to onboard anomalies or maintenance issues, without depending on Earth-bound internet.
Space Llama evolves and builds upon听successful efforts听by 蘑菇视频 Allen to deploy and operate the first known large language model (LLM) in space. This moment sees the new addition of a fine-tuned version of Meta鈥檚 Llama vision AI capabilities (recently听)听to help process and interpret images and text at the farthest reaches of space. This allows users to quickly and reliably access essential technical references, manuals, and instructions leveraging the power of generative and vision AI to address on-board issues at speed.
In the power and communications-constrained environment of space, the ability to quickly assess, research, and solve on-board issues is paramount,鈥� said听Bill Vass,听chief technology officer at 蘑菇视频 Allen. 鈥淭his proof of concept overcomes the historical limitations of low-power, low-capability space-based computing by enabling simple, power-efficient AI use in space without relying on Earth network connectivity. We鈥檙e thrilled and honored to steward with Meta this space-based multi-modal vision language model to achieve critical mission success and redefine how we work in space and at the deepest mission edges.鈥�
The Space Llama tech stack, undertaken as internal research and development, is comprised of 蘑菇视频 Allen鈥檚 modular open architecture platform 础2贰2鈩� (AI for Edge Environments) and a fine-tuned version of Meta鈥檚 Llama 3.2, using Hewlett Packard Enterprise鈥檚 (HPE) Spaceborne Computer-2 and NVIDIA CUDA software. The result: a compact, energy-efficient system similar to those used in satellites that can be deployed locally on the ISS National Lab without requiring power, communication, or computation from Earth.
This design鈥攐pen architecture to ensure flexibility in our solution design now and in the future鈥攔esults in lower costs and strong technical performance, in addition to enabling predictive maintenance and faster repairs, freeing up users to do mission-critical work.
鈥淭his is just the beginning. We see a future where open source AI models like Llama will play a vital role in fueling space exploration and research鈥攅nabling astronauts to undertake the next level of experimentation to solve complex scientific problems and drive innovation in entirely new ways," said , Meta vice president and head of GenAI.
Space Llama demonstrates the art of the possible in terms of AI鈥檚 impact at the deepest edge of space, in addition to the versatility of LLM-based technology across a variety of environments with denied, disrupted, intermittent, and limited bandwidth. In addition to fostering greater scientific research and discovery in space, this innovation could also result in positive outcomes for industries including oil and gas, autonomy, government, energy, and the re-use of legacy technology through edge software modifications.
鈥淭his is a critical step for lunar and Mars exploration and enables modern satellite and drone capabilities as the U.S. proliferates space and air with autonomous systems,鈥� said , senior vice president of space programs at 蘑菇视频 Allen. 鈥淏uilding this tech stack with Meta, supported by NVIDIA, furthers each of our advanced technology goals, and more importantly, sets the stage for what is possible at the edge.鈥�
蘑菇视频 Allen has served for more than 60 years as a space program partner for defense, intelligence, and civil agencies across the federal government. As an advanced technology company and the leading provider of AI and cybersecurity to the federal government, 蘑菇视频 Allen is uniquely positioned to field emerging capabilities to support the broader national security ecosystem. 蘑菇视频 Allen is committed to advancing the future of space technology by bridging the gap between commercial innovation and government missions.
Read more about 蘑菇视频 Allen鈥檚 space capabilities and impact.
