How Dell PowerScale Accelerates Space Exploration

Key takeaways: 

• • The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Institute of Space and Astronautical Science doubled storage capacity and improved data efficiency using Dell PowerScale
  • Dell PowerScale delivers scalable performance, efficient data management and a foundation for future AI-driven analysis

Space research is one of the world’s most demanding workloads.

The Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS), the main part of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), drives scientific exploration across space physics, astronomy, planetary science and space engineering.

These research programs rely on accurate satellite observations that help scientists understand the universe and develop new methods for future missions.

As instruments on scientific satellites have improved, data volumes have grown to reach several gigabytes per day. To store and manage this expanding body of satellite data, ISAS is working with Dell Technologies, using Dell PowerScale as its next-generation high-speed storage environment.

A scalable platform for satellite data

ISAS uses its Scientific Satellite Data Processing System for archiving and publicly sharing data collected from scientific satellites and spacecraft. This system supports researchers in Japan and worldwide, and it requires a highly scalable storage platform with strong performance and consistent reliability.

Dell PowerScale A300 provides that foundation. Its scale-out architecture grows seamlessly as mission data increases, while PowerScale P100 accelerator nodes cache frequently accessed information.
This helps maintain fast, predictable access to satellite observations, even when many researchers request the same dataset at once.

PowerScale’s data protection capabilities also support continuous operations, designed to remain available and safeguard valuable scientific information, while InsightIQ provides administrators visibility into storage usage and performance trends.

Strengthening research through operational efficiency

Since upgrading to Dell PowerScale, ISAS is better positioned to manage long-term data growth while maintaining predictable costs.

The new system, which became operational in April 2025, doubled the Scientific Satellite Data Processing System’s storage capacity while maintaining the same level of performance.

PowerScale’s compression and deduplication feature, SmartDedupe, has enhanced efficiency by reducing stored data by roughly 30 percent, and Satoshi Nakahira, Ph.D., associate senior researcher, Science Satellite Operations and Data Archive Unit, Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS), noted that the approach is helping keep costs under control.

Enabling new approaches to scientific discovery

Looking ahead, ISAS is preparing for new possibilities in data-driven research.

 Nakahira shared that ISAS plans to explore generative AI and other advanced data analysis techniques that can reveal deeper insights within satellite observations. These methods may help scientists uncover patterns that were previously difficult to detect.

PowerScale provides the performance, flexibility and scalability needed to support these emerging research approaches as they evolve.

 A previous version of this story was published in here.

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