Case Study: University of Barcelona achieves scalable astronomy research with Google Cloud Platform

University of Barcelona Institute of Cosmos Sciences Unveiling the mysteries of our galaxy with Google Cloud

The University of Barcelona’s Institute of Cosmos Sciences (ICCUB) needed a way to store and analyze the massive daily data stream from ESA’s Gaia satellite in order to help build a detailed 3D map of the Milky Way. Conventional on-premise infrastructure would have been too costly and inflexible, making participation in this groundbreaking astronomy project nearly impossible without Google Cloud Platform.

Google Cloud Platform provided scalable cloud infrastructure, big data tools, and AI services so ICCUB could process a catalog of two billion stars and run simulations on demand. The result was a major speedup in computation time, cutting one simulation workload from more than a year on a local machine to just three weeks, while enabling ICCUB to play a leading role in Milky Way research.

University of Barcelona

Xavier Luri

Director