A New VANTAGE: SHREC Selected for Next Space Mission

A new space mission has the National Science Foundation Center for Space, High-Performance, and Resilient Computing, or SHREC, shooting for the stars. 

The SHREC research group, based at the University of Pittsburgh and a major component of the new initiative “Pitt Space,” was recently selected to lead its fourth space research experiment: the Visual And Neuromorphic Tracking And Geosensing Experiment or VANTAGE, by the Department of Defense’s Space Test Program (STP). 

There are three key objectives of VANTAGE: 

• Capture: Demonstrate core onboard sensor features and capabilities for earth observation and data capture
• Correlate: Verify sensor correlation operations and perform identification, tracking, and additional science
• Compute: Exploit next-generation, radiation-tolerant computing systems to maximize system performance and reliability with minimal overhead 

“The goal of VANTAGE is to create, deploy and perfect a system to effectively and autonomously perform critical operations for remote sensing and computing in the harsh environment of space,” said Alan George, founder of SHREC, Department Chair, R&H Mickle Endowed Chair, and Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering. “Built and operated by our amazing team of engineering graduate students, this system will augment exciting new sensor, computer, and AI technologies on earth for use in space, which could significantly improve the capabilities of future missions of all kinds.”

VANTAGE builds upon SHREC’s previous work in developing and optimizing radiation-tolerant, single-board computers and hybrid architectures, integrating commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components with radiation-hardened (RAD-HARD) components. SHREC will also be exploring the use of System-on-Module, or SOM, which will be the foundation of computers in VANTAGE. SOMs are compact single-board computers made by commercial vendors that SHREC will be augmenting to make radiation-tolerant for the harsh environment of space. 

“We are taking those SOMs and putting them on custom-made carrier cards, which will have our special sauce in terms of reliable circuitry and fault mitigation, to make a new kind of hybrid architecture that is faster to deploy and easier to design – all while being low cost,” explained Michael Cannizzaro, a graduate student in SHREC and the VANTAGE mission manager. 

VANTAGE will also use neuromorphic event-based sensing, which mimics the functions and efficiency of a biological eye and only responds to the detection of events, leading to less data-heavy outputs but more high-quality imaging.

VANTAGE is expected to launch to the International Space Station (ISS) in early 2027.