HPE plans to run AI and first HPC benchmarks on the Moon's surface

Mission and hardware

HPE announced on Oct. 20, 2026 that HPE Spaceborne Computer-4 will deploy on Astrolab's FLIP rover for an upcoming mission under the Moon Base program. The goal is to test how suitable advanced computing is for future missions and for what HPE calls the emerging lunar economy.

According to HPE, the mission is intended to launch in late 2026 as part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative. Voyager Technologies' Griffin-1 lander will touch down near the lunar South Pole region and transport the FLIP rover, which carries the HPE system as a payload.

HPE describes the module as lightweight, self-contained and fanless, designed to survive the harsh environment of the lunar South pole. It has a low-power CPU and a GPU. Storage uses flash memory in solid state drives from KIOXIA, continuing a long-standing collaboration with the HPE Spaceborne program. HPE also built a software suite that manages interaction with Earth-based resources and enables secure delivery of insights and results from the Moon back to Earth.

What will run on the Moon

HPE says Spaceborne Computer-4 is scheduled to run core AI applications and the first high performance computing benchmarks on the Moon. The results are meant to help build the technological foundation for future missions and research on the lunar surface.

• Large language models will deliver insights, analyze visual data and support autonomous monitoring at the lunar edge.
• Additional tests will process LiDAR data for mapping, navigation, terrain analysis and infrastructure development.
• An AI services container will demonstrate reliable deployment of scalable AI service applications on the Moon.

On the ground, HPE will support Astrolab's mission control in Hawthorne, California with HPE Private Cloud for real-time insights, delivered as a turnkey solution. HPE CloudOps Software will provide a unified environment for managing and automating workloads.

NASA and Deloitte experiments

NASA and Deloitte are set to join the effort. Through the Federated Learning for Unbounded and Intelligent Decentralization (FLUID) experiment, NASA will run an AI neural net model trained on data from Earth, the Moon and the International Space Station, demonstrating coordination of three separate AI models. NASA will also run a tuned LLM test with semantic processing abilities to help search and interpret onboard documents.

Deloitte's Silent Shield™, described by HPE as a new system to detect cyber intrusions, will provide near real-time, predictive cyber-analytics and anomaly detection.

Why it matters

Scott Wiest, vice president, fellow and global sales chief technologist at HPE, said: "The next chapter of lunar exploration will depend on the ability to turn data into insights at the point of discovery." The idea is to process data on the Moon itself rather than depend only on Earth-based resources.

Jaret Matthews, founder and CEO of Astrolab, said the mission "will demonstrate how commercial lunar mobility platforms can support technology development and scientific research."

HPE calls Spaceborne Computer-4 the latest successor to the HPE Spaceborne Computer project, which has years of deployment on the International Space Station. If the benchmarks and AI tests run as planned, they would give early data on how well such systems perform under lunar conditions.