Space Computing is here !!! Roadmap to Quantum Data Centers in Space

Cloud Computing is a synonym for every company. Cloud computing helps host application with ease onto internet. The companies which provides cloud computing have gone far ahead within last decade to help deliver applications and services online.

The earlier concepts of having a server at data center and maintaining it is replaced by moving onto cloud. Also, cloud offers plethora of automated services which made it simple and seamless to move any application to cloud with ease versus procuring a server, maintaining it and updating it. All the pain-points of having to do it yourself are removed out by cloud computing services. Overall it was an abstraction of Data Center activities replaced by efficient Out of box applications which helps deploy applications with ease without worrying about the finer details of maintaining the processing power, space and bandwidth.

Then there is a variation in Cloud computing called as Edge Computing or Fog Computing. The concept was introduced for specific use cases, where an extension to cloud computing was needed on basis of Geo-locations. Edge simply means moving the computing near to where the application is being used. These are very specific use cases which combined along with Internet of Things (IOT) and also without it on private networks. The Edge computing helps deploying application or services at locations where ultra low latencies are required. This helps to reduce the round time which is required to reach the cloud and back. These small data centers at the specific Geo-locations, help providing right amount of processing power/operations and storage to help run few applications at the edge. Also, the data generated through these devices is selectively sent to cloud after processing at edge. This helped a lot since now the mini data centers extended the power and capabilities executing such use cases. The enterprise use cases could be like detecting problems at oil rig, warehouse automation through robot, autonomous driving and list goes on. However, the real power of edge computing when your mobile phone becomes an edge device itself. Nowadays, mobiles phones have far more efficient compute than even many desktops or laptops. These are like mini servers running applications. Mobiles help connect to your home appliance system, your home security systems, WiFi network or local LAN network, Geo location based service system and the list goes on. It is like carry a mini data center in your pocket. The mobile phones become a gateway between a device which is isolated from the world to the world of internet. Even machines which do not have such inbuilt can be made IOT devices with ease. e.g. Normal TV with HDMI port can be made to smart TV using a amazon fire stick or google chomecast.

But now there is a paradigm shift happening in coming years when it comes to computing power. With the advent of Quantum computers it is obvious that Quantum computing are far more superior than the best super computers available.

Google scientists said that Sycamore (Quantum Computer) could solve a specific problem in a mere 200 s, while estimating that a powerful supercomputer would take a whopping 10,000 years to perform the same task

This will open up possibilities which we have never thought of, New Scientific discoveries, Mathematical model simulations, Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence, Genetic modelling, Cryptography etc. which were merely possible due to computing limitations. Also, such systems when commercialized will empower people to discover and research on things which were earlier only accessible to the few due to commercial non viability or limited expertise.

Like we know bits in computers there are Qubits in Quantum Computing. Quantum Computers in current state requires specialized environment due to the fragile nature of Qubits. Noise, temperature change, an electrical fluctuation or vibration, radiation all of these things can disturb a Qubit’s operation and cause it to lose its data. One way to stabilize Qubits is to keep in a dilution refrigerator that uses a special isotope of helium to cool them a fraction of a degree above absolute zero (roughly –273 degrees Celsius). Such temperatures or setup is difficult to be achieved naturally and need to be artificially created in labs. But what if Quantum computers are to be used in large scale and commercialized ? The locations that could be the best possible match for such data centers could be deep down the earth or in space. Quantum computers are already used by NASA for various space missions and also exploring how such computers can be leveraged for different use cases in space explorations. The data centers in space is also experimented along with specialized laboratories below earth surface. Think of it like a satellite bundled with a Quantum Computers that can be launched and will be orbiting the earth. They could be self sustaining and self healing due to solar or nuclear energy. These can be operated through low earth orbit (LEO) satellites for command and control as well as data transmission. Such internet broadband providers are also available these days thanks to projects like Starlink by Elon Musk or Amazon Project Kuiper which can easily make it commercialized from Day 1.

There is a paper published on Quantum Technologies in space and its road map -> Read the paper here

Having Quantum Computers in space is near reality now however there are various challenges too of keeping Quantum Computers in space due to interference of cosmic rays which can disturb their fragile inner workings and limit the kinds of calculations.

The Quantum race has already begun which is aligned to the Moore’s Law of Computing, however the transistors now will be replaced by Qubits.

Google showed up its Quantum supremacy through Sycamore Project with 54 Qubits processor. Later Jiuzhang published a research paper where it has achieved a better efficiency than Google Quantum Computer. Zapata Computing with Honeywell claims of 60 Qubits processor. Also, IBM claiming it can create a 1000 Qubits processor by 2023.

When such systems will be available and made to work perfectly in Space a new paradigm of “Space Computing” will open up a new opportunities like his predecessor Cloud Computing. So hoping to see this term used more often than before.

References

https://physicsworld.com/a/quantum-computers-vastly-outperform-supercomputers-when-it-comes-to-energy-efficiency/
https://www.cosmos.esa.int/documents/1866264/3219248/BassiA_QT_In_Space_-_White_Paper.pdf/6f50e4bc-9fac-8f72-0ec0-f8e030adc499?t=1565184619333
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/09/ibm-promises-1000-qubit-quantum-computer-milestone-2023
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/07/biggest-flipping-challenge-quantum-computing
https://analyticsindiamag.com/indian-firms-need-quantum-secure-key-distribution-to-prevent-future-attacks-says-cto-of-qnu-labs/
https://interestingengineering.com/space-time-crystals-are-real