Increased demand for processing power from astronomers and space agencies is exacerbating global GPU shortages

As new space telescopes come online, they’re generating unprecedented amounts of data that’s putting a strain on global processing power. NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman telescope is set to launch in September 2026, eight months ahead of schedule, and will deliver 20,000 terabytes of data over its lifespan.

This influx of data is not unique to the Nancy Grace Roman telescope. The James Webb Space Telescope has been operational since 2021 and sends down 57 gigabytes of imagery daily. Meanwhile, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile will begin surveying the night sky later this year, gathering 20 terabytes of data each…

The combination of these new space telescopes and existing ones like Hubble is creating a massive demand for processing power. Unlike Hubble, which delivers only 1-2 gigabytes of sensor readings per day, the newer telescopes are producing vast amounts of data that needs to be analyzed and processed.

Astronomers are turning to GPUs to solve this problem. Brant Robertson, an astrophysicist at UC Santa Cruz, has been working with Nvidia to apply GPUs to space-related research for 15 years. His team’s deep learning model, Morpheus, uses GPU-accelerated versions of analyses to identify galaxies in large data sets.

What matters

• NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman telescope will deliver 20,000 terabytes of data to astronomers over its lifespan
• The James Webb Space Telescope sends down 57 gigabytes of imagery daily, while the Vera C. Rubin Observatory will gat…
• Astronomers are turning to GPUs to analyze and process this vast amount of data

Why it matters

Astronomers are turning to GPUs to analyze and process this vast amount of data

This GenAI News article was prepared in original wording using reporting and materials published by TechCrunch AI. Source reference: https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/23/ai-galaxy-hunters-are-adding-to-the-global-gpu-crunch/.

Drafted by the GenAI News review pipeline.