April 29, 2020
Event recap | The future of data and AI in space
On April 29, 2020, Fredrik Bruhn, Amy Webb, Paul Jurasin, Anthony Scriffignano shared their perspectives in a panel discussion titled “Future of data and AI in space” as part of a live video discussion moderated by David Bray, the Director of the Atlantic Council’s GeoTech, on how commercial space efforts are being changed by advances in data and AI capabilities, to include satellites and other efforts in Earth’s orbit and beyond.
The live discussion highlighted how historical computational capabilities and limited electrical power available to satellites prevented edge computing in space. All data had to be transmitted back to Earth for processing. With advances in both processing as well as performance relative to onboard power capabilities, now it is possible to process petaflops of data in space. These advances, which will continue to advance in the near future, change what is possible by commercial space endeavors and what services can be provided to individuals and organizations around the world.
The next decade is yet unwritten. We must be willing to do first, second, and third iterative attempts at learning for the future ahead.