Booz Allen Hamilton has made a breakthrough in the field of space exploration by successfully deploying a generative AI large language model (LLM) on the International Space Station (ISS). The company announced the achievement on August 1st, highlighting the potential of artificial intelligence in space.
The LLM was uploaded to the Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s (HPE) Spaceborne Computer-2 onboard the ISS. In the payload experiment, the team uploaded the LLM and repeated the experiment with new queries four times within the command window, receiving repeatable responses.
Dan Wald, principal AI solutions architect for space applications at Booz Allen, explained that the proof-of-concept demonstrated generative AI techniques including retrieval-augmented generation. The team successfully compressed and optimized a containerized solution to run in the computing environment of the ISS.
“If we can deploy generative AI in space, we can deploy it anywhere,” Wald said.
Chris Bogdan, executive vice president at Booz Allen and leader of the firm’s Space business, emphasized the significance of this achievement: “Generative AI in space is truly the new frontier and this capability unlocks the potential for on-orbit generative AI to integrate and develop mission-critical solutions and is aligned with Booz Allen’s mission to build human-led AI solutions from which our nation will thrive.”