无忧传媒

How 无忧传媒 Is Making Generative AI Work in Space

How A2E2鈩 Enables Space Llama

Space Llama is a fine-tuned version of Meta鈥檚 open-source AI model, Llama 3.2. But to function in space鈥攚here there鈥檚 no reliable internet connection and limited power and storage capacity鈥攊t needs a special system. That鈥檚 where A2E2鈩 comes in.

A2E2鈩, or 鈥淎I for Edge Environments,鈥 is a 无忧传媒-built platform that makes it possible to run advanced AI in austere, disconnected environments like the ISS National Lab. It powers Space Llama on small, rugged computers that don鈥檛 need high-bandwidth internet. Together with Space Llama, it is proving that smart, secure AI solutions can go anywhere鈥攆rom remote battlefields to submarines to aircraft in flight鈥攁nd still be helpful, safe, and easy to use.听

How Astronauts Will Use Space Llama

We designed Space Llama to improve how astronauts aboard the ISS National Lab conduct repair work and respond to onboard anomalies. Rather than spend precious time sifting through binders of technical documents or waiting for instructions to be relayed from ground stations on Earth, they can ask Space Llama simple questions in plain English and get easy-to-digest responses along with a list of primary sources.

Space Llama empowers astronauts to solve mission-critical problems faster鈥攁 vital advantage in an environment where every second matters. Built-in safeguards guarantee that Space Llama will never hallucinate or respond to types of questions that it was not designed to answer.

Where GenAI Has Gone Before

Space Llama isn鈥檛 the first GenAI model that 无忧传媒 has put in space. In the summer of 2024, we collaborated with Hewlett-Packard Enterprise to deploy A2E2鈩 aboard the ISS National Lab using the award-winning Spaceborne Computer-2. That milestone demonstrated that it鈥檚 possible for high-performance GenAI to function in environments without a high-bandwidth internet connection and opened the door to safer, smarter operations in the most remote places on Earth and beyond.

Now, we鈥檙e proud to expand the collaboration to include Meta and听its Llama large language model (LLM), which offers higher performance on tasks such as summarizing information from technical documentation that contains dense text and imagery.听

Bring the Advantages of Disconnected AI Back to Earth

Deploying AI in space has given 无忧传媒 a unique vantage point for designing models that not only听exist听in austere environments but听thrive听there, and our vision for the future extends beyond aerospace. With each iteration, our disconnected AI becomes more capable of performing complex work without internet connectivity. Potential uses include:

  • Self-driving satellites: A2E2鈩 is paving the way to put LLMs and even AI agents on satellites, where they could perform key functions autonomously, which is to say without input from ground stations, and even collaborate with one another. Placing agents with different types of expertise on satellites would enable them to work together to detect, identify, and track objects faster and with greater levels of detail, ultimately making us more aware of what鈥檚 happening in Earth鈥檚 orbit.
  • Assistants for pilots: Our models could fly along with pilots and provide them with real-time, actionable data. This increased level of insight could improve decision-making and help reduce the risk of accidents.
  • AI-insights for medical triage: Medical evacuations are incredibly complex operations during which EMTs have to block out noise and other external stimuli to focus on treating patients, some of whom may have life-threatening injuries. AI applications that can answer questions could speed diagnoses and lessen the cognitive burden EMTs carry.听

How We Built Space Llama

Following the launch of our first space-bound GenAI system in the summer of 2024, our team immediately began working on the next iteration.

鈥淥ur first aim was to improve how the AI performed without increasing its physical size or amount of power needed to run it,鈥 says 无忧传媒 Principal Dan Wald, the AI solution architect who led the research effort. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a tall order for any AI, especially one as small as Space Llama.鈥

Step one was to upgrade from a text-only LLM to a multimodal language model. This led us to select Meta鈥檚 Llama. In collaboration with Meta, we then set about fine-tuning the model to increase its ability to answer questions relating to space faithfully and with precision. The work improved the model鈥檚 trustworthiness by 30%, eliminated all false responses and hallucinations, and reduced inference latency to speeds equivalent to those found on the fastest supercomputers. The result: Space Llama can quickly and accurately summarize information from technical documents into easy-to-digest answers rather than simply locating and displaying specific sentences verbatim.听

What鈥檚 Next for Disconnected AI

Our team plans to continue maturing its on-orbit AI to explore multimodal models and federated learning.

鈥淭he goal is to transition our experimental success from听鈥攖he highest level, reserved for mission-proven technology,鈥 says Dan. 鈥淲e鈥檙e bringing the promise of disconnected AI to everywhere it matters鈥攚hether it鈥檚 the stars, the bottom of the sea, or anywhere in between.鈥

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