NASA uses AWS cloud to transmit 4K video from Artemis II lunar mission

During the Artemis II mission, NASA utilized a complex technological chain to transmit 4K video of astronauts orbiting the Moon to Earth. This process relied on a laser link and a distributed cloud infrastructure spanning the United States and Australia.

To manage the mission's data requirements, the Orion flight science team at NASA's Johnson Space Center performed tens of thousands of simulations to determine and correct spacecraft trajectories. These simulations addressed both predicted conditions and anomalous scenarios. To handle the resulting workload, which can produce between 2 and 5 terabytes of data per launch window, the mission utilized AWS GovCloud. This specialized cloud environment enabled near real-time calculations for trajectory corrections during the first 48 hours of the mission.