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How to data center travel in FFXIV

Finally, you can hang out with your friends from other servers

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In Final Fantasy 14 , you can now travel across data centers within regions to hang out with your friends. Moving data centers is a different process than moving worlds, so we’ve put together a FFXIV guide to explain how to do so.

As of writing this, traveling to other data centers can take a long time due to high traffic , so make sure you’ve got your affairs in order before you start the process. (It took us around 31 minutes to jump from Primal to Aether at around noon on a Wednesday, for reference.)

You won’t have access to things like FC buffs or your retainers while you’re in another data center (similar to world travel), so you likely won’t want to be away from home for too long. You also won’t be able to use any of your normal linkshells.

To start the data center traveling process, select the character you want to move on the main login screen and select “Visit Another Data Center.” Once you do this, you’ll be able to select a data center and world to move to.

Once the process begins, you won’t be able to login on another character or cancel the jump. After you finally arrive in the target data center, you’ll be able to jump from world-to-world using the main Aetherytes in Gridania, Ul’Dah, and Limsa Lominsa, as usual.

You can only jump around the data centers in your region, meaning that if you’re playing in the North American data center Aether, you can only jump to Primal and Crystal. European data center players can only jump to Chaos and Light, and Japanese data center players can only go to Elemental, Mana, and Gaia.

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FFXIV Data Center Visit: How to Travel to Aether, Primal, or Cystal in Final Fantasy XIV

Picking a Data Center in Final Fantasy XIV seals your fate when it comes o playing through the game. Unless you want to spend a bit of money to have your character transferred to a different Data Center or make a new character on a different Data Center, you will be stuck with where you pick.

This sucked because if you had friends that were in a different Data Center, there was no way of playing with them. Hope was on the horizon though. With the addition of world visits, the promise of Data Center visits was made. Thus allowing you to play with friends in a different Data Center. Now that Data Center visits have been added to Final Fantasy XIV many players are going to visit and play with friends. Let’s go over how you can use the Data Center visit feature in Final Fantasy XIV

How to Visit Other Data Centers in Final Fantasy XIV

Visiting a Data Center is quite simple, all you need is to be near an Aetheryte. Just teleport to any city you want to or use your return ability to be brought right to an Aetheryte. Then you need to interact with it to pull up its menu. Then you just need to pick the Data Center Visit option and select which Data Center and server you want to visit.

There are a few restrictions that will apply to you while you are doing a Data Center Visit. You can’t join or form a Free Company and you won’t earn any Company credits for your own company. You can’t use, join, create, or view Linkshells during your visit. You won’t be able to access your retainers, but they will still sell items you put up before you did your visit. It also seems that you can still use market boards in other Data Centers, so you can take advantage of lower prices if you can find them.

You also can’t buy housing or host/attend an Eternal Bonding Ceremony during a Data Center Visit.  You can also craft in another Data Center but gathering is limited since you can’t access Legendary or Unspoiled nodes. You should also be apple to access the new dungeon types during a Data Center Visit once those are added back into the game.

Other than those restrictions almost everything else is fair game. Go run some dungeons or do a raid with friends from another Data Center. If you are wanting to jump into a different Data Center around the time this article is released, you will run into a little issue. At the time of writing this article, the Data Center Visit has been suspended due to the unexpected load of people wanting to visit other Data Centers.

It should be back up as soon as more server compacity is added and everything in this guide will still be relevant when it is available again. If you need any more help with Final Fantasy XIV make sure to check out our other guides .

Final Fantasy XIV  is available now on PC, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5.

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Datacenter physical access security

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Microsoft understands the importance of protecting customer data and is committed to securing the datacenters that contain it. Microsoft datacenters are designed, built, and operated to strictly limit physical access to the areas where customer data is stored.

Physical security at datacenters is in alignment with the defense-in-depth principle. Multiple security measures are implemented to reduce the risk of unauthorized users accessing data and other datacenter resources.

• Perimeter security : Microsoft datacenters are nondescript buildings with perimeter fencing and 24-hour exterior lighting. Tall fences made of steel and concrete encompass every inch of the perimeter and all entry to the datacenter campus must go through a well-defined access point. Camera-monitored entrance gates and security guard patrols ensure entry and exit are restricted to designated areas. Bollards and other measures protect the datacenter exterior from potential threats, including unauthorized access.
• Entering the datacenter : The datacenter entrance is staffed with professional security officers who have undergone rigorous training and background checks. Security officers routinely patrol the datacenter and video feeds from cameras inside the datacenter are always monitored.
• Inside the datacenter : Upon entering the building, two-factor authentication with biometrics is required to continue moving through the datacenter. Once authenticated, access is granted to the authorized portion of the datacenter and only for the time approved. Within the datacenter, areas designated as highly sensitive require additional two-factor authentication.
• Datacenter floor : The datacenter floor can only be accessed with prior approval and after a full body metal detection screening at the time of entry. To reduce the risk of unauthorized data entering or leaving the datacenter, only approved devices can make their way onto the datacenter floor. Additionally, video cameras monitor the front and back of every server rack. When exiting the datacenter floor, all individuals are subject to an additional full body metal detection screening.
• Leaving the datacenter : To leave the datacenter facility, each person must go through a final security checkpoint and all visitors must surrender their temporary badges. After collection, all visitor badges have their access levels removed before they are reused for future visits.

Access provisioning

The Datacenter Management (DCM) team has implemented operational procedures to restrict physical access to only authorized employees, contractors, and visitors. Temporary or permanent access requests are tracked using a ticketing system. Badges are either issued or activated for personnel requiring access after verification of identification. Physical keys and temporary access badges are secured within the security operations center (SOC).

Microsoft datacenters are subject to a least privileged access policy, meaning datacenter access is restricted to personnel with an approved business need, with no more access than necessary. Access requests are time-limited and are only renewed if the requestor's business need remains valid.

Datacenter access records are maintained in the form of approved requests. Requests can only be approved by the DCM team, and visitor access requests to datacenters are recorded and made available for any future investigations

Datacenter security personnel

Security personnel throughout the datacenter facilities and campus are responsible for the following activities:

• Operate workstations located at the Security Operations Center within the primary administration building.
• Conduct periodic inspections through facility walkthroughs and patrols of the grounds.
• Respond to fire alarms and safety issues
• Dispatch security personnel to assist service requests and emergencies
• Provide Datacenter Management team with periodic updates about security events and entry logs
• Operate and monitor alarm, access control, and surveillance systems

Visitor access

Security verification and check-in is required for personnel requiring temporary access to the interior of the datacenter facility, including tour groups and other visitors. Datacenter visitors must sign a non-disclosure agreement, undergo datacenter management review, and obtain approval by datacenter management before their scheduled visit. Upon initial arrival, datacenter visitors are processed with temporary, least privileged access credentials. Additionally, a Microsoft full-time employee (FTE) or authorized designee approved by datacenter management is assigned to escort visitors during the visit.

All visitors that have approved access to the datacenter are designated as Escort Only on their badges and are required to always remain with their escorts. Escorted visitors do not have any access levels granted to them and can only travel on the access of their escorts. The escort is responsible for reviewing the actions and access of their visitor during their visit to the datacenter.

Visitor access is monitored by the assigned escort and by the Control Room Supervisor via closed circuit television (CCTV) and the alarm monitoring system. Visitors with an approved access request have their access request reviewed at the time their identification is verified against a form of government-issued identification or Microsoft-issued badge. Visitors approved for escorted access are issued a self-expiring sticky badge, and upon return the access record within the tool is terminated. If a visitor leaves with their badge, the badge automatically expires within 24 hours.

Temporary access badges are stored within the access-controlled SOC and inventoried at the beginning and end of each shift. Security officers are staffed 24x7, and physical keys are stored in an electronic key management system that is linked to the physical access system requiring a security officer's PIN and access badge to gain access.

Access review and deprovisioning

The DCM team is responsible for reviewing datacenter access regularly and for conducting a quarterly audit to verify individual access is still required.

For terminations or transfers, the person's access is immediately removed from the system and their access badge is removed. This removes any datacenter access the person may have had. DCM teams also perform quarterly access reviews to validate the appropriateness of the datacenter access list in the system.

Key management

Physical/hard keys are checked out to specific personnel by matching the person's access badge to the physical key. A person must have the appropriate access level in the tool to check out specific keys. Keys are not allowed offsite.

The hard keys and badges are kept under strict control by Microsoft and are audited daily. Microsoft also mitigates risks by implementing strict assignment of access levels, and controlled distribution and management of keys. The primary access methods at datacenters are electronic access badges and biometrics, which allows for immediate revocation of access as required. Microsoft has procedures in place to determine appropriate action commensurate with the risk for all lost keys. These actions could require the rekeying of a single-server rack or door and up to the rekeying of the entire datacenter facility.

Access logging and monitoring

Access requests and entrance/exit events are logged and retained as part of an electronic audit trail, allowing after the fact data interrogation and reconciliation. Access control system reports and data analysis allow further anomaly detection to identify and prevent unnecessary and unauthorized access.

Datacenter surveillance systems monitor critical datacenter areas like datacenter main entry/exit, datacenter colocations entry/exit, cages, locked cabinets, aisle ways, shipping and receiving areas, critical environments, perimeter doors, and parking areas. Surveillance recordings are retained for a minimum of 90 days unless local law dictates otherwise.

A Control Room Supervisor is always in the SOC to provide monitoring of physical access in the datacenter. Video surveillance is employed to monitor physical access to the datacenter and information system. The video surveillance system is linked to the building alarm monitoring system to support physical access monitoring of alarm points. Security officers ensure that only those personnel with proper authorization are allowed access and verify that anyone bringing equipment in and out of critical infrastructure facilities follows proper procedures.

Security events that occur within the datacenter are documented by the security team in a report called a Security Event Notification (SEN). SEN reports capture the details of a security event and are required to be documented after an event occurs to capture details as accurately as possible. SEN reports also contain the investigative analysis conducted in an After Action Report (AAR), which documents the investigation of a security event, attempts to identify the root cause of the event, and records any remediation actions and lessons learned. Remediation actions and lessons learned are utilized to improve security procedures and reduce the likeliness of the event repeating. If an incident impacts Microsoft assets or services, the Security Incident Management (SIM) team has detailed procedures in place to respond.

In addition to the 24x7 onsite security, Microsoft datacenters utilize alarm monitoring systems that provide real-time alarm and video monitoring. Datacenter doors have alarms that report on each opening and when they remain open past a programmed length of time. The security system is programmed to display live video image when a door alarm is triggered. Access card and biometric readers are programmed and monitored through the alarm monitoring system. Alarms are monitored and responded to 24x7 by the Control Room Supervisor who utilizes cameras in the area of the incident being investigated to give the responder real-time information.

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Upcoming Test of Cross-region Data Center Travel

Since its introduction, the Data Center Travel system has allowed players to visit Worlds within the same physical data center. For example, players in the North American data center are able to visit Worlds in Aether, Crystal, Dynamis, and Primal. As previously announced , our system is capable of facilitating cross-region travel, but we are still evaluating this functionality in light of the often substantial differences in market economy and social norms between data centers. We will continue to take community feedback into account as we consider whether this functionality should be enabled. On the other hand, many Worlds may experience login queues following the upcoming release of Dawntrail, especially during peak times. With this situation in mind, we are considering a temporary option in which a limited form of cross-region travel would allow players to play on a less-populated physical data center. Thus, to identify potential technical issues ahead of Dawntrail's release, we will be conducting a public test of cross-region Data Center Travel functionality starting Sunday, March 24. Players connecting from geographically distant locations may experience some lag, but we hope you will take this opportunity to explore playing on a different physical data center.

Test Period

Sunday, March 24 at 8:00 p.m. (PDT) until the beginning of Patch 7.0 maintenance * Test period is subject to change.

Cross-region Travel Available During the Test:

• Japanese data center → Oceanian data center
• North American data center → Oceanian data center
• European data center → Oceanian data center

A character visiting from a World outside your physical data center will be labeled as a “Voyager.” This label will be appear in the character’s display name, as well as the Player Search feature, etc. * Updated March 26, 2024 at 10:00 p.m. (PDT) * Characters with a Home World in the Oceanian data center will be unable to travel to a different physical data center. * Please note that although characters will be able to return to their Home World from the Oceanian data center even after the test has concluded, their ability to return may be temporarily impeded by periods of server congestion, including any that may arise during the release of Dawntrail. * Please note that your Lodestone character data will not account for friend list, blacklist, and cross-world linkshell registrations made while visiting another physical data center. Additionally, you cannot join Community Finder recruitments for cross-world linkshells on other physical data centers.

Community Wall

Recent activity.

Filter which items are to be displayed below. * Notifications for standings updates are shared across all Worlds. * Notifications for PvP team formations are shared for all languages. * Notifications for free company formations are shared for all languages.

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Data Center / Home World

Primary language.

Mandragora [Meteor]

Eat Meet ( Mandragora) posted a new blog entry, "作成中：俺に関連する公式設定."

Endless Frontier (Lamia) has been formed.

Belias [Meteor]

Kako Mirai ( Belias) posted a new blog entry, "解除で軍票稼ぎが楽しい."

Shadefall (Jenova) has been formed.

Echo of the Void (Famfrit) has been formed.

Inu Mikan ( Belias) posted a new blog entry, "🐶しばらく🍊."

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Kekero Chawanmushi ( Aegis) has started recruitment for the cross-world linkshell "Chawanmushi LoveClub (Elemental)."

Mikan Tabetee

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Mikan Tabetee ( Ridill) has started recruitment for the cross-world linkshell "Arcadia_sav (Gaia)."

Mikan Tabetee ( Ridill) posted a new blog entry, "【DC不問】21:30～　アルカディア零式3ヶ月固定メンバー募集@H1【ゆる固定】."

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Unicorn [Meteor]

Negitoro Don ( Unicorn) has started recruitment for the cross-world linkshell "Morning Coffee (Meteor)."

Crystalline Conflict Standings

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Famfrit [Primal]

Frontline Standings

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Stella Mccartney

Faerie [Aether]

Final Fantasy 14: How To Use Data Center Travel

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Genshin impact: best builds for sethos, multiversus codes, quick links, how to data center travel, restrictions when visiting other data centers, data center and world list.

The day that Warriors of Light have been waiting for has arrived — Data Center travel has finally been implemented in Final Fantasy 14 . This new feature allows you to visit your friends on other Data Centers or go and explore new worlds and see if the grass is really greener, take part in special community events, or just visit some old acquaintances.

RELATED: Final Fantasy 14: How To Visit Other Worlds

When you do feel like backpacking to another Data Center to make some new friends, here's everything you need to know about how to do it and the limitations in place.

Unlike World Travel, you can only travel to different Data Centers from the character selection screen , before you log in.

Simply right-click on the character you wish to travel with, and choose 'Visit Another Data Center'.

You will then be prompted to pick which Data Center and World you wish to travel to . If the World is not available, this is due to congestion and you'll have to try again later.

At present, you can only travel to Data Centers within your home Data Center — this means if you are on an EU Data Center, you can only travel to the other EU Data Center, while NA Data Center users can only travel to other NA Data Centers, etc.

Once you've confirmed your chosen Data Center and World, you can return to the title screen to await your travel.

You cannot cancel Data Center travel once it has been started and the time it takes varies depending on current congestion.

If you wish to Data Center travel to a Data Center that is not your Home Data Center, your character must be on your Home Data Center to do so. This means if you are currently visiting another Data Center and want to hop to the next, you'll first have to return to your Home Data Center before you can do this.

When visiting other Data Centers, your character will have <<Traveler>> beside their name to indicate this, while characters visiting from other Worlds have <<Wanderer>>.

There are a few restrictions that will affect you when jumping across Data Centers. Here's what you need to know.

At present, you can only travel to Data Centers within your home Data Center. So if you are on an EU Data Center, you can only travel to the other EU Data Center, while NA Data Center users can only travel to other NA Data Centers, etc.

Here is a list of each Data Center and the worlds on each one.

NEXT: Final Fantasy 14: Guide To Playing Astrologian In PvP

How To Visit Other Worlds

Final fantasy 14: complete guide, how does new game plus work.

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Final Fantasy 14 finally gets Data Center Travel in two weeks

Square Enix has finally confirmed when patch 6.18 will land

Square Enix has announced that Final Fantasy 14 patch 6.18 will launch on July 5, with both the long-promised Data Center Travel option and a bunch of new servers.

Patch 6.18 introduces the long-awaited Data Center Travel option, which will finally allow players to visit different Data Centers within their own region. So a player in a World (or server, in more common parlance) on North America's Primal Data Center will now be able to visit Worlds on Aether or Crystal, for example. Sadly, this option does not allow for cross-region play.

We already knew that Data Center Travel would be part of patch 6.18, but alongside the update's release date, the devs have also announced that four more Worlds will be introduced for EU Data Centers: Sagittarius and Phantom on Chaos, and Alpha and Raiden on Light. (Revengeance enthusiasts are already having a lot of fun with the Raiden name .)

The devs are heavily incentivizing new characters on those new Worlds, with a double XP bonus, gear vouchers, one million gil, and 14 free days of playtime if you make it to level 30. Existing characters can transfer into the new worlds for free, and will also get the benefit of the double XP bonus.

Final Fantasy 14 struggled so mightily to keep up with its server load post-Endwalker that the game was temporarily removed from sale - and the issues were particularly pronounced in the EU region. Hopefully these new servers will help to ease the load.

Maintenance for patch 6.18 will begin on July 5, and as the devs note in the announcement , downtime is expected to last for 24 hours.

The next major content update, Final Fantasy 14 patch 6.2 , will get its Live Letter reveal on July 1.

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Dustin Bailey joined the GamesRadar team as a Staff Writer in May 2022, and is currently based in Missouri. He's been covering games (with occasional dalliances in the worlds of anime and pro wrestling) since 2015, first as a freelancer, then as a news writer at PCGamesN for nearly five years. His love for games was sparked somewhere between Metal Gear Solid 2 and Knights of the Old Republic, and these days you can usually find him splitting his entertainment time between retro gaming, the latest big action-adventure title, or a long haul in American Truck Simulator.

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FFXIV Data Center Travel Detailed, Arrives in Patch 6.18

Final Fantasy XIV  players could soon be traveling across new dimensional barriers. FFXIV Data Center Travel will debut alongside patch 6.18, according to the latest Letter from the Producer Live broadcast . Producer Naoki Yoshida presented details on the planned feature. It’s intended for players on one Data Center to be able to temporarily send their characters to another Data Center and play alongside players “native” to that Data Center.

Typically, FFXIV Data Centers are arranged into Physical and Logical Data Centers. Each Physical Data Center is located in a certain region. Those data centers are divided into multiple Logical Data Centers, which themselves contain various “World” servers that serve up instances of the game world to players. For example, a character might be on the Lamia World, which is located in the Primal Logical Data Center, which in turn is in the North American Physical Data Center. FFXIV Data Center Travel lets players travel from one Logical Data Center to another within the same Physical Data Center. That means the previously mentioned character from Lamia on Primal will be able to visit a friend on Balmung on Crystal.

The system works similarly to the World Visit system already in the game, with some additional restrictions. Players on another Data Center won’t be able to use their Free Company Chat and may have PVP Teams restricted. Cross-World Linkshells will also be restricted, but from Patch 6.2 onward, it will be possible to join them on other data centers.

To initiate Data Center Travel,  FFXIV players will need to be on the Character Select screen. Selecting a destination Data Center and World will cause the game to pause momentarily to initiate the transfer, and the transfer can’t be stopped. Then they’ll be able to load in with a selected character and play.

FFXIV  Data Center Travel will arrive in Patch 6.18. The first post- Endwalker patch, patch 6.1, will debut in April 2022 . The game is available on PC, PS4, and PS5, and its free trial recently resumed .

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Final fantasy xiv endwalker - data center travel explained, new oceania data server.

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Final Fantasy XIV with its new Endwalker Expansion, will add a brand new feature highly demanded by players worldwide, the Data Center Travel feature. This is similar but different from the currently implemented World Travel System, which lets you move your character from one World to another without logging out of FF XIV.

New Data Center in Oceania announced (May 15, 2021 update)

On the Final Fantasy XIV Digital Fanfest first stream on May 15, Square Enix announced the game is opening a new Oceania Data Center for the release of Endwalker on November 23.

• FF14 ENDWALKER - Release date trailer, Reaper class details

Final Fantasy XIV Endwalker - What's the upcoming Data Center Travel?

The Data Center Travel will allow you to go play on other Data Center than the ones you usually play and first made your characters on.

Basically this means anyone anywhere in the world will be able to play with each other. Friends who are separated by the oceans will finally be able to play Final Fantasy XIV together even if they didn't start out on the same Data Server. This is huge and great news for all players and FF XIV fans around the world.

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How the Data Center Travel feature will work

Here's how it works: before logging into Final Fantasy XIV Endwalker , in the character select screen, you'll be able to use the Data Center Travel, and choose which Data Center to login into.

YoshiP mentioned they wanted to make it so you don't need to logout, like with the World Travel System, but that's too complicated with how the servers are built.

However, there are certain functions that will be disabled when using the Data Center Travel in Final Fantasy XIV Endwalker . Overall, there will be more restrictions than when using the World Travel System. But you'll be able to visit your friends in other Data Centers, play with them, do content with them, take screenshots, etc.

YoshiP also mentioned there will be simulations to check how it will affect each Data Centers' economy, but it should be negligible. So players shouldn't worry.

Be sure to check out our full summary of the Final Fanasy XIV Endwalker Announcement Showcase, with details on new Jobs, new Story contents, and more.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/ASTGVJLBX14

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Google Data Center 360° Tour

Greg wilson.

Director, Developer Advocacy

We’re excited to share the Google Data Center 360° Tour — a YouTube 360° video that gives you an unprecedented and immersive look inside one of our data centers.

There are several ways to view this video:

• On desktop using Google Chrome — use your mouse or trackpad to change your view while the video plays
• YouTube app on mobile — move your device around to look at all angles while the video plays
• And the most immersive way to view — using Google Cardboard (currently supported by the Android YouTube app only, iOS support is coming soon!) Load the video in the YouTube app and tap on the Cardboard icon when the video starts to play. Insert your phone in Cardboard and look around.

A little background . . . Several months ago, those of us on the Google Cloud Developer Advocacy Team had a rare opportunity to tour the Google data center in The Dalles, Oregon. Many of us had seen other non-Google data centers in our careers, but this experience was beyond anything we ever imagined. We were blown away by the scale, the incredible attention to security and privacy, and the amazing efforts to make the data center extremely efficient and green. Additionally, we were proud to meet some of the brilliant people that design, build and maintain these data centers.

If you are a Google Cloud Platform customer, then this is your data center as much as it is our data center, so we want you to experience what we experienced.

We hope you enjoy it!

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The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW Washington, DC 20500

FACT SHEET: Kenya State Visit to the United   States

Today, President Biden welcomes President Ruto of Kenya for a State Visit and Dinner to celebrate and deepen ties between our two nations.  This visit marks 60 years of official U.S.-Kenya partnership.  This partnership is founded on shared values, deep cooperation, and a common vision for the future.  The two leaders’ agenda showcases how our ties deliver tangible benefits to the people of our nations in areas including Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance; Health Partnerships; People-to-People Ties; Shared Climate Solutions; Trade and Investment; Debt, Development, and Sustainable Finance; Digital, Critical, and Emerging Technology Cooperation; and Peace and Security Cooperation.

Democracy, Governance, and Human Rights

Our countries are bonded by our shared democratic values and mutual commitment to advancing human rights and strengthening political institutions.  This historic State Visit is about the Kenyan and American people and their hopes for an inclusive, sustainable, and prosperous future for all.  Our countries endeavor to guard against the erosion of political checks and balances, counter misinformation and disinformation, mitigate hate-fueled violence targeting members of vulnerable communities, and tackle corruption by building transparent and accountable governance systems.  The State Visit highlights new areas of cooperation to safeguard rights and freedoms in the face of rising authoritarianism, expand avenues for dialogue, and elevate our shared global commitment to protecting democracy.

• Delivering Democracy:  The United States has programed nearly $40 million for democracy, human rights, and governance programming in Kenya, including through Presidential Initiative for Democratic Renewal programs that defend democratic elections and political processes, increase women’s political participation and leadership, counter Gender Based Violence, and advance digital democracy.  Additional support for activities in Kenya under the Presidential Initiative for Democratic Renewal build on Kenya’s important work as a member of the 14-country Global Partnership for Action on Gender-Based Online Harassment and Abuse, which is advancing global policies to address online safety for women and girls, including targeted violence against women political and public figures. 
• Supporting Independent Civil Society:   President Ruto executed on May 9 the legal instruments required to operationalize the 2013 Public Benefits Organization Act, which institutionalizes groundbreaking, global best practices for civil society protections.  The United States announced $700,000 in new assistance to support this effort in addition to the $2.7 million the United States is providing to improve civil society engagement in and oversight of governance processes.  The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) also announced an additional $1.3 million youth empowerment program aimed at strengthening political engagement at the subnational level and $600,000 to advance disability inclusion.
• Bringing Transparency to Government:  The United States and Kenya commit to strengthening the Open Government Partnership (OGP), which Kenya co-leads and the United States co-founded, including through robustly fulfilling our open government commitments at home.  USAID Administrator Power plans to represent the United States at the OGP event on the margins of the UN General Assembly High Level Week in September.  This event gathers world leaders for an opportunity to showcase the powerful global coalition on open government and democracy and to consider opportunities for further collaboration. 
• Promoting Human Rights:   The United States and Kenya affirm their commitment to upholding the human rights of all.  Together they stand with people around the world defending their rights against the forces of autocracy.  Kenya and the United States commit to bilateral dialogues that reinforce commitments to human rights, as well as a series of security and human rights technical engagements with counterparts in the Kenyan military, police, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs aimed at strengthening collaboration on security sector governance, atrocity prevention, and Women, Peace and Security in Kenya and regionally.
• Combatting Corruption:   The Administration intends to provide $500,000 for a new Fiscal Integrity Program to make county budget processes more transparent and inclusive and increase citizen engagement, and $500,000 to broaden the reach and effectiveness of anti-corruption advocacy by empowering civil society actors to create and disseminate multimedia content that engages citizens and mobilizes action against corruption.  To support the Government of Kenya to combat corruption, the Administration is providing $250,000 through the Global Accountability Program, and $300,000 to support Kenya’s proposed Whistleblower Protection law to strengthen Kenya’s anti-corruption legal architecture.  In addition, USAID has provided $2.7 million to support the improved enforcement of policy and laws that deal with fraud, waste, and abuse in the delivery of public services to Kenyan citizens. 
• Gathering Anti-Corruption Professionals:   With support from the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime and the East African Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities convened a regional conference from May 20-23, 2024, in Nairobi, Kenya, gathering anti-corruption practitioners and policymakers from countries participating in the East Africa Anti-Corruption Platform. 
• Strengthening Police Reform Efforts:   Building on a longstanding partnership to further police capacity building and reform efforts, the United States and Kenya announced a new $7 million partnership to advance and strengthen the modernization and professionalization of Kenya’s National Police Service, with a focus on staff and training development.
• Reducing Prison Overcrowding and Improving Detention Conditions:   The United States and Kenya are committed to further advancing Kenyan-led efforts to improve the oversight of and conditions within Kenya’s prison service.  The United States announced a new $2.2 million initiative to provide training, mentoring, and technical assistance to implement priority reforms.
• Combatting Transnational Organized Crime and Supporting Criminal Justice Sector Reform:   Recognizing the regional role Kenya plays in combating transnational organized crime, the United States intends to provide $4.9 million in new funding for Kenya and other East African countries to improve cooperation and coordination in combating criminal networks and holding criminals accountable.  Funding also supports capacity building and reform efforts within the Kenyan police and justice sectors.
• Supporting Investigative Journalism:   The United States seeks to amplify Kenya’s leadership in building Africa’s digital resilience by supporting linkages between well-known international investigative organizations and select Kenyan NGOs, media outlets, and citizen journalists to build up Nairobi as a regional hub for exposing issues in the public interest.  This support also helps journalists in their pursuit of public information.  Pursuing these efforts in Kenya – a regional media and technology leader – positively impacts East Africa and the broader continent, particularly as Kenyan recipients connect with counterparts in the region.
• Strengthening Kenya’s Frameworks for Free and Fair Elections:   Working with Congress, the Administration intends to provide $1.5 million in new technical assistance to support Kenya’s electoral legal framework reform process aimed at strengthening the election commission, political parties, and campaign finance.  This funding aims to improve public awareness raising and advocacy around the reforms, laying the groundwork for a more inclusive, transparent and peaceful 2027 election.  This support complements Kenya’s amendment to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission Act, which passed the National Assembly on May 3 and is now with the Senate.

Health Partnership:  Securing Our Collective Health

Decades of collaboration between the United States and Kenya in the health sector have resulted in tremendous improvements in health not only for millions of our citizens, but also for the broader global community.  This cooperation is vital to developing medical innovations, preventing the emergence of future global pandemics, and ensuring that effective treatments are widely available.  Our governments are working in lockstep with the private sector, which is developing new manufacturing capacity in Kenya that can serve Africa and the world.  The efforts showcased during the State Visit build upon these successes to ensure a healthier, more prosperous future for all.

• Continuing the Fight against HIV/AIDS:   The United States and Kenya are developing a “Sustainability Roadmap” to integrate HIV service delivery into primary health care, ensuring quality and impact are retained.  With more than $7 billion in support from the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) spanning two decades, Kenya has successfully responded to the HIV epidemic and strives to end HIV as a public health threat in Kenya by 2027.  These efforts improve holistic health services for the 1.3 million Kenyans currently receiving antiretroviral therapy and millions more benefiting from HIV prevention programs, while allowing for greater domestic resources to be put toward the HIV response, allowing PEFPAR support to decrease over time.
• Partnering for Global Health Security:   Kenya and the United States announced a formal proclamation between the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Government of Kenya for sharing information, identifying best practices, and defining steps toward the development and full launch of the Kenyan National Public Health Institute.  As a gateway to East Africa through Port Mombasa, Kenya’s capacity to prevent, detect, and respond to infectious disease threats is critical.  To support our health partnership, Kenya and the United States plan to develop and launch a customized Public Health Emergency Management training program to enhance health security across all 47 counties in Kenya. 
• Reducing the Impacts of Malaria:   Through the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI), the United States contributed $33.5 million in 2023 to fight malaria in Kenya, providing vital financial and technical assistance to the Government of Kenya.  The United States supports resilient health systems to deliver care by training health workers, strengthening supply chains, improving data monitoring, and reinforcing national health policies and guidelines.  These investments have contributed to a 50% reduction in malaria prevalence over the last decade.  In support the Government of Kenya’s localization goals, PMI is expanding its procurement of pharmaceutical supplies from Kenyan manufacturers and intends to procure up to an additional 5 million malaria treatments and 475,000 preventive treatment doses from Kenyan producers in 2024.
• Growing Health Manufacturing:   Kenya committed to working with lawmakers to advance the Kenyan Pharmacy and Poisons Board (PPB) Act, a necessary step to boost local manufacturing of medical products and expand private American investment in the sector.  Securing and diversifying global supply chains by promoting local and regional manufacturing of health products is a priority of the United States.  The implementation of the PPB Act has the potential to increase manufacturing capacity in Kenya and Africa to ensure the availability of life-saving medicines, diagnostic tests, and devices.  This should also mitigate the impact of global supply chain shocks, which were so evident during the COVID-19 pandemic.  To further these goals, USAID provided $2.3 million in support to Revital Healthcare to develop rapid diagnostic tests for HIV, malaria, hepatitis B and C, dengue, and pregnancy, and to build a manufacturing plant capable of producing 240 million tests per year.  Additionally, USAID and the Kenyan Ministry of Health are partnering to equip all neonatal clinics with Revital-made continuous positive airway pressure machines for babies requiring respiratory support.
• Partnering with the Private Sector in Healthcare:   The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) is investing in Kenya’s vibrant private sector by making a $10 million direct loan to Kenyan company Hewa Tele, which provides an affordable and regular supply of medical oxygen to healthcare facilities in Africa, and two rounds of equity investment totaling $4 million to Kasha Global, a Kenya-based e-commerce company that provides personal care, health care, and beauty products to low-income women in Kenya and Rwanda.
• Expanding Joint Research:   Kenya and the United States recommitted to our long-standing partnership through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the CDC and the Kenyan Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) to support Kenya’s Applied Science Hub, building on 45 years of research partnership on malaria, HIV, tuberculosis, vaccine-preventable diseases, maternal and child health, emerging infectious diseases, and COVID-19.  The research in the Applied Sciences Hub aims to expand surveillance, answer critical public health questions, and introduce novel diagnostic methods, including advanced molecular and serology-based methods, and training in public health laboratory core competencies.  This year, the United States provided an estimated $12.9 million to support research efforts by KEMRI through CDC, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Department of Defense.  In FY 2023 NIH supported over 250 grants to U.S. organizations that collaborated with Kenyan organizations, covering a wide range of relevant biomedical research topics, and approximately 90 of these collaborations include researchers at KEMRI.
• Meeting Kenya’s Digital Health Goals:   The United States announced over $31 million to advance Kenya’s efforts to set up a digital superhighway to enable a holistic view of health care delivery.  The United States has worked closely with the Kenyan Ministry of Health to build and deploy digital health solutions to support disease programs and improve the ability to prevent, detect, and respond to public health threats.  This includes $4 million through USAID Power Africa’s Health Electrification and Telecommunications Alliance to support solar power solutions for health facilities and activities to strengthen community and facility information systems to improve patient care and expand access to emergency medical services for mothers and newborns.  Additionally, the NIH Harnessing Data Science for Health Discovery and Innovation in Africa (DS-I Africa) program focuses on facilitating the use of data science to impact health outcomes in Africa and supports a data hub and training and educational development programs in Kenya.

People-to-People Ties:  Improving and Enriching Lives  

The American and Kenyan people have deep ties that go far beyond the 60 years of official cooperation between our governments.  These relationships – rooted in family, friendship, and community – improve and enrich our lives.  They drive our cooperation, underpin our shared values, and elevate our aspirations.  The benefits of these ties are particularly evident in our cooperation in educating the next generation of leaders, entrepreneurs, and visionaries.  The State Visit builds on this fundamental strength, catalyzing stronger partnerships through a series of groundbreaking education and exchange programs. 

• Strengthening Connections Between U.S. and Kenyan Educational Institutions: 
• Kennedy-Mboya Partnerships:   As the United States and Kenya celebrate 60 years of bilateral relations, and recalling the positive and enduring impact of the Kennedy-era student airlift, the newly announced Kennedy-Mboya Partnerships support a new scholarship program that promotes intellectual, academic, and innovative exchange.  The Administration intends to provide $3.3 million for a U.S. Department of State program for sixty Kenyan undergraduate students to study for a semester in the United States, with a focus on STEM.  This program supports the development and success of the next generation of Kenyan scientists, researchers, and engineers.
• Partnership 2024 :  The Administration intends to provide $500,000 for Partnership 2024 to support the development of Kenyan students, scientists, researchers, and engineers by encouraging U.S. universities to increase investment in relationships with Kenyan universities and research institutions.  Faculty and research collaboration are planned to bolster the program, supported by Fulbright Specialists to provide additional expertise.
• EDTECH Africa:   The Governments of Kenya and the United States, in collaboration with Microsoft, Mastercard’s Center for Inclusive Growth, Howard University, Spelman College, Clark Atlanta University, and Morehouse College announced the establishment of EDTECH Africa.  This initiative serves as an emerging technology bridge between Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and African scholars, aimed at cultivating educational exchanges in the ever-evolving landscape of emerging technology.  This initiative expands Mastercard’s existing investment of $6.5 million for the Atlanta University Center Consortium Data Science Initiative and $5 million for Howard University’s Center for Applied Data Science and Analytics, actively involving African scholars with HBCU students and faculty in the journey toward greater proficiency as data scientists.  Microsoft will invest an additional $500,000 to support HBCU and Kenyan students engaged in research at the Microsoft Africa Research Institute (MARI) in Nairobi, Kenya, complementing its recent contribution of $350,000 for the Atlanta University Center Consortium Data Science Initiative to establish a network of data science faculty across HBCUs.  USAID intends to invest $850,000 to facilitate this partnership between HBCUs and Kenyan universities.
• National Science Foundation (NSF) International Activities :  NSF has committed to offering workshops, planning grants, or supplements to U.S. universities to strengthen connections between U.S. and Kenyan universities, jointly identify research foci, and facilitate collaboration in research, education, and workforce development.
• Employment Pathways for Youth :  USAID announced $6.5 million to support a partnership between Edison State Community College in Piqua, Ohio, and Kenya’s United States International University of Africa to strengthen up to 40 Kenyan technical vocational education and training institutions in the high-growth sectors of information and communications technology (ICT) and manufacturing of pharmaceuticals and textiles.
• Framework for Cooperation:   The United States and Kenya signed a Framework for Cooperation to support higher education partnerships for STEM education.  The Framework describes U.S. and Kenyan priorities and is accompanied by a commitment from Microsoft, Micron, Mastercard, and several U.S. and Kenyan universities expressing their support for STEM education.  The Framework fosters higher education partnerships and commitments to partner private sector stakeholders, Kenyan institutions, and U.S. institutions to build mutual capacity in information and computer technology, microchip manufacturing, and other STEM-related education and career opportunities.
• Collaboration with the National Museums of Kenya:  The Smithsonian Institution announced a $150,000 project funded by the U.S. Department of State to assess opportunities, challenges, and possible enhancements to support the National Museums of Kenya continued evolution as a leader in cultural and natural heritage preservation.  Smithsonian officials plan to work collaboratively to identify possible areas for enhancement and growth, including facilities, collections care and conservation, curation, digital infrastructure, exhibitions, and research programs.
• Supporting Primary Education:  USAID intends to provide $24.5 million for the Kenya Primary Literacy Program (KPLP), a new nationwide early grade literacy activity implemented in close partnership with Kenya’s Ministry of Education.  KPLP programs are delivered in English and Kiswahili to all public primary schools and select private schools.  KPLP expands new innovations to address literacy needs of grade 1-3 learners while building more inclusive, accountable, and resilient education institutions and systems. 
• Bolstering Kenya’s Creative Workforce:  The United States and Kenya announced new initiatives and programs to strengthen the creative economies between our two countries.  In partnership with the Recording Academy, the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts, and other leading private sector and civil society institutions, the United States envisions new programs to promote collaboration, build capacity, and bolster professional creative industry ecosystems.  We seek to assist emerging leaders in television, film, and music to learn new skills, build networks, and participate in international festivals.  The two countries also promote cultural heritage and tourism by supporting the preservation of the archaeological site of Takwa through the prestigious U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation.
• Expanding Emerging Technology Training Program:  The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies intends to launch a new fellowship program this fall, funded in part by Meta, bringing together high-achieving mid-career government officials from select African countries.  This program equips the next generation of leaders across the continent with the policy and technical expertise needed to help their governments translate the digital transformations underway – including in AI and other emerging technologies – into broadly shared growth for their societies.  In recognition of the technology sector leadership demonstrated by both the Kenyan public and private sector, Kenya is the first country to be added the inaugural fellowship cohort.
• Increasing Diplomatic Exchange:   The United States Foreign Service Institute and the Kenyan Foreign Service Academy plan consultations with the intention of enhancing cooperation and further exchanges between the two institutions.  Sharing a mutual interest in promoting best practices for the training of diplomats, the United States and Kenya commit to exploring Kenya’s participation in an emerging international community of practice for diplomatic training. 
• Strengthening U.S.-Kenya Research Ties with Kenya’s Health Workforce:   The Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare (AMPATH) Kenya is a partnership between Moi University, Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, and the AMPATH Consortium of global universities around the world led by Indiana University.  With $20.7 million in annual funding from USAID, these partners are reaching 120,000 Kenyans on life saving antiretroviral treatment.  Through AMPATH, the universities commit to continuing the education of healthcare providers, medical students, residents, and community health workers.
• Increasing Consular Capacity:   The U.S. Embassy in Nairobi expanded the number of staff working in the Consular Section to expedite the review and issuance of visas for travel of Kenyan citizens to the United States.  The Consular Section issues visas for students, tourists, businesspeople, and workers, and also processes visas to reunite families.  At the same time, our Consular Section provides services to American citizens living in or visiting Kenya.  These people-to-people links are the bedrock of our bilateral relationship.

Shared Climate Solutions:  Fostering Growth and Resilience  

President Biden and President Ruto have a shared climate vision as not just an existential challenge of our time, but as the most significant economic opportunity of the 21 st century.  It is a generational opportunity for Africa to become a leader in the global clean energy economy.  Closer partnership is generating greater advances in clean energy supply chains, mobilizing climate-related investment, sustainable agriculture, adaptation, and resilience.

• Launching the U.S.-Kenya Climate and Clean Energy Industrial Partnership:   During the State Visit, we announced the launch of a U.S.-Kenya Climate and Clean Energy Industrial Partnership to elevate climate action and green industrialization as a critical pillar of our bilateral relationship.  We also signaled our intent to implement a new green growth framework throughout Africa.  Through this partnership, the United States and Kenya prioritize cooperation across the three, mutually-supportive areas of clean energy deployment, clean energy supply chains, and green industrialization.  To support these activities under the Partnership, the United States and Kenya intend to work with international financial institutions and multilateral trust funds to identify mechanisms to mobilize investment for clean energy manufacturing and services.  The two sides intend to strategically leverage concessional finance and risk mitigation tools at the multilateral development banks and climate funds to lower the cost of capital for clean energy deployment and supply chains in Kenya and the region, including a portion of the $568 million in catalytic finance that the United States provided to the Clean Technology Fund in 2023.
• Humanitarian Disaster Response:  To date in FY 2024, USAID has provided $42 million in emergency humanitarian assistance to Kenya.  Including this assistance, USAID’s Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance has provided nearly $1.3 billion over the last 12 years to respond to humanitarian needs in Kenya, including those caused by natural disasters.
• Connecting Homes, Businesses, and Institutions to Reliable Clean Energy:  USAID, through the Power Africa Initiative, announced $300,000 to support women’s entrepreneurship and gender-equity in the Kenyan energy sector and committed $3.6 million in to support the accelerated connection of more homes, businesses, and institutions in Kenya to cleaner electricity as part of its Empowering East and Central Africa program.  In addition, Power Africa inter-agency partners, including the U.S. Department of Energy, DFC, and USTDA, announced key deliverables that, in partnership with the Government of Kenya, advance Power Africa’s mandate to alleviate energy poverty.
• Investing in Hydropower :  Virunga Power, a U.S. company and Power Africa partner, announced a pipeline of six run-of-river hydropower projects in advanced stages of development in Kenya.  With a total expected investment of $100 million, the hydropower projects will be constructed in sequence over the next five years and are expected to provide 31 megawatts of clean, baseload renewable energy.  The power generated should improve the stability of Kenya Power’s distribution network in Western and Central Kenya and enable new connectivity and industrial and economic growth in rural areas of the country.
• Deepening Government-to-Government Cooperation on Clean Energy and Carbon Management:  The U.S. Department of Energy and Kenyan Ministry of Energy announced their intent to sign a MOU in June in Nairobi intended to enhance bilateral collaboration and partnership in the development of clean energy, carbon management technologies, and decarbonization strategies.  This MOU establishes a framework to facilitate the sharing of technical knowledge, advice, skills, and expertise across numerous sectors – including geothermal energy development and industrial decarbonization.  The framework forms the basis of sustainable and climate-adaptive economic growth across our countries and regions.
• Investing in Electric Vehicle Startups:   DFC announced a $10 million direct loan to BasiGo, an electric vehicle company that leases and sells electric buses to public transport bus operators in Kenya.  The loan facilitates procurement of buses and batteries for sale in Kenya and is a key e-mobility project supporting Kenya’s ambitious climate goals.  Additionally, DFC announced a $10 million loan to Kenyan company Roam Electric that supports its assembly and production of electric motorcycles on-site in its Nairobi production facility.  The U.S. Department of State also announced $100,000 for technical assistance to support accelerating the transition to zero-emissions vehicles in Kenya, including through policy development and implementation, capacity building and peer-to-peer learning, and workforce development.
• Growing Kenya’s E-mobility Sector:   DFC recently announced a $10 million loan to Mogo Auto Kenya to support affordable financing for cars, motorcycle taxis, and logbook loans in Kenya.  The transaction supports President Ruto’s Africa Green Industrialization Initiative, building upon DFC’s longstanding support for the e-mobility economy in Kenya.
• Launching the MCC-Kenya Urban Mobility and Growth Threshold Program:   The United States and Kenya are scheduled to launch a seminal partnership to deliver a more connected, mobile, and green Nairobi.  The $60 million grant from the Millennium Challenge Corporation funds a four-year program focusing on the transportation needs of underserved groups, safer options for women and pedestrians, and climate-friendly public transportation, generating benefits for over four million residents and increasing urban mobility while decreasing transportation sector emissions.
• Increasing Plastic Recycling:   USAID recently expanded its support for the Kenyan recycling company T3, now totaling over $2 million.  T3 plans to leverage nearly $13 million in additional private investment to expand plastic collection and acquire a “bottle-to-bottle” processing line, the first in Kenya.  The line enables production of food grade recycled PET resin and is projected to more than double the amount of PET plastic recycled in Kenya.  The T3 initiative is projected to create 200 jobs and indirect economic opportunities for approximately 8,000 collectors, mainly women and youth.
• Supporting Community-Led Conservation:  The Southern Kenya Conservation Project (SOK) and the Kenya Rhino Range Expansion Project (KRRE) are building partnerships for the conservation of the southern Kenya landscape and the expansion of rhino range in Kenya.  The partnerships aim to raise significant funds to increase wildlife numbers, restore landscapes, open up wildlife corridors, and spur economic opportunity. USAID is providing $300,000 to develop landscape and fundraising strategies to help Kenya leverage funds and access financing for both projects.  SOK and KRRE will help Kenya build climate resilience and achieve their 30×30 goal of conserving 30 percent of their land and oceans by 2030.
• Promoting Wildlife Conservation:  To assist the Government of Kenya with combatting wildlife trafficking and other nature crimes, the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of the Interior have collaborated to station a permanent U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service law enforcement attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, strengthening the longstanding wildlife conservation partnership between our two countries.  This position was designed to assist with law enforcement coordination and consultation, facilitation of intelligence sharing and investigative support, and access to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service forensic and technical support resources. 
• Amplifying Scientific Partnership:   The United States welcomes Kenya’s leadership in hosting the upcoming Smithsonian’s ForestGEO international analytical gathering in Nanyuki, Kenya, co-hosted by the Mpala Research Centre, the National Museums of Kenya, and the Karatina University, from June 29 to July 13, 2024.  The Smithsonian ForestGEO network studies the diversity and dynamics of forests, the forest carbon cycle, and the impact of climate and global change on forest biodiversity and function.
• Improving Weather Forecasting:   DFC recently announced a $1 million loan to Ignitia AB, a tropical weather forecasting service designed for smallholder farmers in Kenya, Ghana, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  This loan was part of the Africa Small Business Catalyst program in partnership with the U.S. African Development Foundation (USADF) and USAID.
• Fostering High-Integrity Carbon Markets:   The United States and Kenya established a partnership to support Kenya’s efforts to be a global leader in delivering high-integrity and high-quality carbon credits.  In support of this partnership, the U.S. State Department and USAID announced $1 million in targeted technical assistance and analytical capabilities to support development of Kenya’s framework for high-integrity carbon markets and to strengthen Kenya’s ability to engage in related transactions.
• Investing in Carbon Capture:  The U.S. Department of Energy, through Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, announced a one-year project to accelerate the commercial readiness of carbon dioxide (CO2) removal approaches that leverage the reactive CO2 mineralization storage potential in Kenya’s volcanic-hosted geothermal systems.  The project aims to develop and implement a characterization protocol to evaluate potential strategic basalt CO2 storage sites through a knowledge exchange process; parametrize a static geologic model to facilitate evaluation of CO2 injection and mineralization storage strategies; and establish the institutional foundation for sustained Kenyan collaboration within the international mineralization storage research and development community.
• Announcing New Scientific Collaboration:  The Smithsonian Institution announced a new research fellowship program in Kenya, funded by education entrepreneurs Dennis and Connie Keller, to build capacity, train, and exchange knowledge.  Alongside Smithsonian scientists, Kenyan Shared Health Science Fellows study impacts of changes in climate, pollution, stressors, and toxicants on wellbeing, health, and physiology in humans, plants, animals, and our shared environment.  Over the next four years, the program aims to provide six fellows with two years of training at the Mpala Research Centre and spend time at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.
• Deepening U.S.-Africa Nuclear Industry Cooperation:  The U.S. Department of Energy, in partnership with Kenya and Ghana, plans to host the second installment of the U.S.-Africa Nuclear Energy Summit (USANES) on Industry Readiness in Nairobi, Kenya in August 2024.  Recognizing the historic relationship between the United States and Kenya, USANES 2024 envisions U.S. and African policymakers, technical experts, and industry leaders convening in Nairobi to address critical issues impacting industry readiness and the future of nuclear energy on the African continent.  The Summit comprises educational workshops, stakeholder engagement sessions, and multilateral discussions on topics from financing and workforce development to supply chain preparedness.  The Summit aims to underscore the opportunities nuclear power presents to reach Net Zero by 2050 and further strengthen the robust ties between the United States and Kenya. 

Trade and Investment:  Generating Prosperity   

The trade and investment partnership between the United States and Kenya is driving our shared prosperity, generating well-paying jobs, expanding economic growth, protecting the rights of workers, and spurring new innovations with global benefits.  This partnership spans the full spectrum of large to small businesses.  Both countries are partnering with the private sector to further strengthen these economic ties, including in the critical areas of clean energy technology, agriculture, and affordable housing.

• Advancing a U.S.-Kenya Strategic Trade and Investment Partnership:   The U.S. and Kenya have made significant progress on the U.S.-Kenya Strategic Trade and Investment Partnership (STIP) .  We are negotiating high standard commitments in a range of areas with a view to increase investment; promote sustainable and inclusive economic growth; benefit workers, consumers, and businesses (including micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises); and support African regional economic integration.  The U.S. Trade Representative and Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Investment, Trade, and Industry committed in May to work towards concluding an agreement by the end of 2024.
• Signing a U.S.-Kenya Commercial and Investment Partnership:  The United States and Kenya intend to sign a Commercial and Investment Partnership, affirming a mutual commitment to deepening commercial and investment ties between our two countries.  This Partnership, with robust participation from the private sector, aims to promote a strong business-enabling environment and to facilitate trade and investment opportunities in Kenya focused on key priority sectors including infrastructure, agriculture, and the digital economy.
• Opening a DFC Nairobi Office:  DFC announced it plans to open an office in Nairobi, playing a key role in driving DFC’s pipeline development across key sectors in Kenya such as agriculture, health, e-mobility, energy, infrastructure, and financial inclusion, including on-lending to small and medium sized enterprises and women entrepreneurs.
• Establishing A Framework Agreement with Coca-Cola:   In Atlanta, President Ruto visited Coca-Cola HQ to sign a framework agreement focused on policy engagement, mango juice production, and plastic recycling.  His visit also celebrated 70 years of Coca-Cola in Kenya, along with the company’s partnership on drought response and clean water, use of its supply chains to distribute COVID vaccines and protective equipment, and a new $175 million investment in its economy.
• Reaping Benefits from AGOA:   Vivo Fashion, a leading Kenyan women’s fashion brand in East Africa, announced the opening of its first retail storefront in the United States in Atlanta, Georgia.  Vivo Fashion is part of a growing Kenyan apparel industry that benefits from market access to the United States under AGOA, the largest single component of U.S. trade with Kenya.
• Improving Food Security through Jobs:   USAID is investing in the future with $15 million for new activities designed to reduce poverty and malnutrition and address global food security by expanding investment opportunities.  By creating over 50,000 new jobs, catalyzing over $200 million in new agricultural sales, and mobilizing over $200 million in new finance for agriculture, these activities improve food security and nutrition outcomes for over 800,000 Kenyans.
• Investing in Kenyan Businesses:
• Acorn Green Housing Project:  DFC recently approved an approximately $180 million loan to Acorn, a real estate developer that constructs and operates affordable student housing in Kenya.  The DFC investment is expected to catalyze an additional $360 million in local Kenyan investment in one of the largest green housing portfolios in Africa. With early-stage support from USAID and Prosper Africa and financing from DFC, this transaction is designed to address a critical need and is a strong example of the power of whole of U.S.-government support to the private sector as it pursues projects with an emphasis on development impact that delivers for the people of Kenya.
• Pezesha Africa Limited:   DFC announced a $500,000 technical assistance grant to build a proprietary credit scoring model to improve Kenyan company Pezesha Africa Limited’s underwriting capabilities for small and medium sized enterprise clients.  Pezesha is a capital enablement lending infrastructure platform focused on increasing access to finance for retail trade micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises by integrating financial services into existing supply chain verticals.
• Keep IT Cool:   DFC recently announced a $500,000 loan to Kenyan-based Keep IT Cool, a business-to-business aggregation and sales platform to connect fish farmers with buyers utilizing cold chain technology.  This loan was part of the Africa Small Business Catalyst program in partnership with USADF and USAID.
• African Fertilizer and Agribusiness Partnership, Inc.:   DFC recently announced a $10 million second loss guarantee to African Fertilizer and Agribusiness Partnership, Inc. to expand the sale of fertilizer on credit to small and medium-sized enterprise agri-input suppliers in Kenya, Zambia, and Ghana.  The guaranty deal is expected to enable up to $360 million in additional fertilizer sales in these three countries over the next three years, furthering regional food security and agricultural production.
• Kentegra Biotechnology:   DFC recently announced a $10 million loan to Kentegra Biotechnology in Kenya to support the construction of a new facility to scale up its production capacity of pale refined pyrethrum extract, a key ingredient in organic pesticides.  DFC’s loan provides women farmers with more predictable income, higher prices than alternative crop options, and training to implement best farming practices and financial planning tools to fully benefit from the increased incomes resulting from pyrethrum cultivation.  USTDA previously announced a grant of $660,000 for a feasibility study supporting the development of this facility, which can facilitate Kenya’s ability to respond to international demand for safer and environmentally friendlier insecticides. 

Debt, Development, and Sustainable Finance

President Biden and President Ruto recognize that mounting debt burdens put critical investments in countries’ sustainable development and ability to address global challenges like the clean energy transition out of reach.  Countries should not have to make the difficult choice between paying back creditors and investing in their people, economy, and future.  

• Launching theNairobi-Washington Vision:   The United States and Kenya are launching the Nairobi-Washington Vision as a call to action to the international community to bring together all its tools to support countries with high ambition with respect to investments in their own development and addressing global challenges that are too often constrained by high debt burdens.  It calls on international financial institutions to provide coordinated packages of support, creditor countries to provide forms of debt relief and/or new budget-support flows, multilateral development banks and development finance institutions to facilitate private sector financing on better terms and crowd in private investment, and creditors to provide more transparent and sustainable lending.  Together we call to the international community to come together around these elements to support high-ambition countries with high-ambition financial support.
• Expanding Support to Developing Countries through the International Financial Institutions :  To make this vision a reality, the United States is stepping up support to international financial institutions.  Through efforts to evolve the multilateral development banks, the United States has worked with Kenya and other shareholders to secure reforms to unlock over $250 billion in new lending at these institutions.  The United States intends to make available in the coming weeks lending of up to $21 billion to the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust to support the poorest countries, and has made available this week $250 million through the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) Crisis Response Window to support crisis response in the world’s poorest countries.  President Biden has asked Congress for funding in the FY 2025 budget that would enable $36 billion in new lending at the World Bank that, together with contributions from international partners, could provide an additional $100 billion boost to World Bank financing capacity over time.  Both Kenya and the United States stand in support of an ambitious policy and financing package for the replenishment of the World Bank’s International Development Association. 
• Enhancing Support for Kenya from the International Financial Institutions:  The United States has been a leading voice advocating for international financial institutions to step up support to Kenya to achieve development and climate ambitions.  With strong support from the United States, the IMF has doubled Kenya’s total program financing from $2.2 billion over three years to $4.4 billion over four years.  Robust U.S. financial support has enabled World Bank financing to Kenya, including through increased funding at IDA and the World Bank’s International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.  The United States championed the expansion to select countries in Sub-Saharan Africa of the European Bank for Reconstruction (EBRD) and Development, where the United States is the largest shareholder.  The United States and Kenya worked together to successfully secure Kenya’s membership in the EBRD, which would be a boost to private sector development in the country once Kenya is granted recipient country status.

Digital, Critical, and Emerging Technology Cooperation:  Delivering Innovation, Progress, and Inclusion  

The strong and growing innovation partnership between the United States and Kenya is anchored in a shared commitment to investing in secure and resilient technology supply chains, building a skilled and technologically savvy workforce for the future, promoting the digital economy and infrastructure, and enhancing our cybersecurity posture.  Like the United States, Kenya is an engine for innovation.  Kenya’s “Silicon Savannah” – a $1 billion technology hub – is home to more than 200 startups spanning a range of sectors, including clean energy, microelectronics, financial technology, and e-commerce.  The United States and Kenya share a commitment to ensuring that technology is developed and deployed in a manner that advances transparency, accountability, and human rights.  Together, our two countries are committed to seizing the opportunities of a new digital era and driving innovative approaches to solving some of the most consequential global challenges.

• Building Secure and Resilient Supply Chains:
• Establishing a New Semiconductor and Technology Partnership to Support U.S. and Kenyan Industry, Consumers, and Workers:   The United States views Kenya as a strong emergent partner in building resilient semiconductor supply chains, and we share a commitment to promoting high-quality jobs with strong labor standards for U.S. and Kenyan workers.  We aim to develop programmatic options to expand Kenya’s technical workforce and strengthen its regulatory environment to help attract further private investment and cultivate potential linkages to the U.S. semiconductor supply chain.  To this end, the U.S. State Department intends to partner with the Government of Kenya to explore opportunities to grow and diversify the global semiconductor ecosystem, specifically in the assembly, testing and packaging sector, under the International Technology Security and Innovation Fund, created by the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022.  Accordingly, the U.S. State Department is working with Congress to commit $1 million in foreign assistance to promote resilient semiconductors supply chains, build secure and trusted ICT ecosystems, and complement U.S. domestic manufacturing capacity.  This would make Kenya the first country in Africa to benefit from funding through the CHIPS and Science Act.
• Partnership to Expand Semiconductor Supply Chain:  The United States is working with Congress to establish a partnership with Kenya to expand and diversify its emerging semiconductor industry in support of global supply chains.  Programs to expand Kenya’s technical workforce and streamline its regulatory environment would assist in attracting further private investment and build linkages to the U.S. semiconductor supply chain, specifically in the assembly, testing and packaging sectors.
• Diversifying the Semiconductor Workforce :  NSF intends to partner with Micron and Global Foundries to launch new funding opportunities to support investments in a diverse semiconductor workforce – including through investing in Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions, and Tribal Colleges and Universities – to increase equitable access to STEM education in the United States and Kenya.  In addition, NSF has committed to offering workshops, planning grants, and providing supplements to U.S. universities for research and education to strengthen connections between U.S. and Kenyan universities.
• Semiconductor Network and Welcome Corps at Work :  The United States welcomes Micron’s launch of its MSI Semiconductor Network comprised of 16 leading universities across the United States, which seeks to feature collaboration between select MSIs with universities in Kenya to develop the next generation of the semiconductor workforce from underrepresented communities.  Through funding opportunities made available by NSF, GlobalFoundries, and Micron, MSIs – like those that are a part of Micron’s MSI network – can increase access to equitable education, address student programming, and strengthen infrastructure.  The company also announced a partnership with the International Rescue Committee and Talent Beyond Boundaries, through Welcome Corps at Work, to recruit individuals from refugee and immigrant communities across East Africa, including Kenya, to fill semiconductor technician and engineer roles.
• Expanding Semiconductor Fabrication:  USTDA signed an MOU with the Government of Kenya and committed $1.3 million to support Semiconductor Technologies Limited’s expansion of its fabrication of legacy semiconductor chips at commercial scale.
• Enhancing Cybersecurity Cooperation:
• Improving Cybersecurity :  The United States, Kenya, and Google announced a joint effort to help launch a cybersecurity operations platform to improve the security of Kenya’s digital infrastructure, including an initial pilot project to enhance the resilience of Kenya’s e-government services.  Google also highlighted solutions for incident response and resilience-building measures.  Separately, Microsoft has agreed to create a new program to upskill Kenyans through free online certifications to help Kenya fortify its resilience against evolving cyber threats and support AI training and research.  In collaboration with the Government of Kenya and the University of Nairobi, Cisco launched in April 2024 its Cybersecurity Training and Experience Center in Kenya, the first on the African continent.  The Center is supporting the East African digital ecosystem, providing critical cybersecurity skills for future tech leaders. 
• Kenya Regional Cyber Sector Collaboration Symposium:   The United States and Kenya, in collaboration with the Software Engineering Institute, plan to hold a regional event later this year focused on enhancing information sharing between cybersecurity incident response teams to enable a more resilient cyberspace in East Africa.
• Commercial Law Development Program Advisory Support:   As a collaborative effort between the Departments of State and Commerce, the United States intends to provide policy and regulatory advisory services to support secure and trusted ICT ecosystems in Kenya.  Support includes policy and legislative reform advisory services, consultative meetings, capacity-building workshops, and multi-stakeholder engagement at international events. 
• Promoting Digital Connectivity:
• Expanding Digital Connectivity:   Google announced an investment in digital connectivity for Africa Connect, creating the first intercontinental fiber optic route in the southern hemisphere between Kenya and the Asia Pacific region.  The terrestrial portion of Africa Connect has regional breakout points which enable trusted connectivity from Kenya to Uganda, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Google’s Africa Cloud Region. 
• Fiber Backbone and Access Network Expansion:  USTDA recently announced funding for a $1.13 million feasibility study to help Bandwidth and Cloud Services Group (BCS) expand its operations to provide new and affordable broadband network access to thousands of individuals across East and Central Africa.  This grant facilitates the expansion of BCS’s fiber backbone and access network in Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, and Uganda.  In turn, the expansion should enable other internet service providers to make new investments that can provide affordable fixed wireless access for an even larger consumer market.
• Affordable Urban Internet Connectivity:   USTDA recently announced $1.26 million in funding for a feasibility study to assess market opportunities across Africa in support of Kenya-based Poa Internet’s delivery of affordable fixed wireless internet access.  The grant aims to evaluate the viability of expanding internet access to an additional one million households in low-income urban communities across the continent.
• Bridging the Digital Divide Reverse Trade Mission Series:   USTDA announced two upcoming reverse trade missions to introduce public and private sector representatives from Kenya and Tanzania to the latest U.S. technologies, services, and financing solutions for last-mile connectivity and cybersecurity.  Both reverse trade missions are focused on expanding internet access and improving cybersecurity governance, while increasing the likelihood that these digital transformation projects are implemented using U.S. technologies and services.
• Mombasa to Malaba Fiber and Tower Infrastructure :  At the 2024 AmCham East Africa Business Summit, USTDA announced $1.2 million to address Kenya’s internet affordability gap.  USTDA’s grant to the Wilken Group enables evaluation of the development of fiber optic infrastructure and a series of 5G-capable towers along the Meter Gauge Railway between the cities of Mombasa and Malaba.
• Africa Cross-Continental Fiber Backbone :  At the 2024 AmCham East Africa Business Summit, USTDA announced $1.3 million in funding for a feasibility study for CSquared to assess plans for a cross-continent fiber optic backbone from East Africa to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  The fiber optic backbone would help hundreds of thousands of Africans gain access to affordable broadband for the first time.  USTDA’s grant also aims to establish city-level fiber networks and last-mile connectivity to commercial buildings and homes.
• Last-Mile Internet:  The Government of Kenya and Microsoft continue to collaborate to increase internet connectivity in Kenya and throughout the region, including by bringing last-mile wireless internet access to 20 million Kenyans and 50 million people across East Africa by the end of 2025.
• Digital Transformation with Africa (DTA) Partnership with the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI):  DTA intends to provide $1 million to YALI’s Regional Leadership Center (RLC) in Kenya to expand digital skills and literacy, support digital entrepreneurs and start-ups, and increase private sector engagement across East Africa.  This activity should inform additional DTA-YALI activities with other RLCs in Ghana, Senegal, and South Africa, benefiting young African leaders in 49 countries.
• Construction of Green Data Center for Cloud Services :  The government of Kenya and Microsoft announced they are joining a partnership that plans to construct a 1-gigawatt datacenter in Naivasha, Kenya.  The data center will be run on Microsoft Azure cloud services and offer access to cloud-based applications and services to organizations and individuals in Kenya and East Africa – allowing the Government of Kenya to move its data and services to trusted vendors.  The data center will be powered entirely by geothermal energy and will feature state-of-the-art water conservation technology to minimize water use. 
• M-KOPA:   DFC announced a $51 million loan to Kenyan company M-KOPA to support the financing of up to $210 million of smartphone receivables, and cash loans, increasing the affordability of devices to low-income borrowers.
• Establishing Strategic Dialogue on AI :  The governments of the United States and Kenya established a Strategic Dialogue on AI to discuss deepening our collaboration to ensure the development and deployment of safe, secure, and trustworthy AI systems.  This dialogue focuses on spurring innovation, bolstering sustainable and inclusive economic growth, promoting digital transformation, overcoming digital divides, and advancing democracy, equity, and universal human rights.  The Dialogue offers the opportunity to discuss and coordinate policies around the national security implications of AI and associated technologies.  The inaugural Strategic Dialogue on AI meeting is scheduled to take place in late 2024.
• Collaboration between the U.S. AI Safety Institute and Kenya’s Imagine Tech and Action Lab :  The U.S. AI Safety Institute and Kenya’s equivalent Imagine Tech and Action Lab plan on future collaboration to advance scientific research for AI safety, develop guidance for safety evaluations and mitigations, and work towards interoperable standards.  This collaboration fosters connections between our talent, resources, and capacity in order to harness the benefits of AI safety for all.  Through this collaboration, Kenya intends to join a growing global scientific network of institutes focused on AI safety and committed to international cooperation.

Peace and Security Cooperation:  Protecting People Across the Globe  

Decades of strong security cooperation between the United States and Kenya have played a critical role in East Africa and beyond.  This partnership extends to areas including international peacekeeping, peace negotiations, security governance, refugee inclusion, and cooperation in cybersecurity.  The U.S.-Kenya partnership plays a central role in international efforts to defeat al-Shabaab, ISIS elements based in East Africa, and other terrorist organizations.  The United States is also firmly committed to supporting Kenya in its deployment to lead the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission to Haiti, providing much needed security assistance to the Haitian people.

• Elevating our Bilateral Relationship:   In a powerful symbol of the close relationship between the United States and Kenya, today President Biden is informing Congress he intends to designate Kenya as a Major Non-NATO Ally.  This designation is granted by the United States to countries with close and strategic working relationships with the U.S. military and defense civilians.  The United States has a deep respect for Kenya’s contributions to global peace and security.  This is the first designation of a sub-Saharan Africa nation as a Major Non-NATO Ally.
• Promoting Peace and Security:  To further strengthen and amplify Kenya’s regional role in peace negotiations and mediation, the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations is funding the Public International Law and Policy Group’s 12-month training program to establish an effective mediation/negotiations support unit in the Kenyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs Peace and Security Directorate.
• Leading on Refugee Response:  The United States and Kenya reiterate the importance of building a strong asylum system, partnering on social and economic integration of refugees and host communities, and supporting the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program.  Over the past 10 years, the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration provided more than $667 million in humanitarian assistance in Kenya.  This funding supports basic needs, protection, and durable solutions for refugees and other vulnerable populations and promotes economic and financial inclusion for refugees and their Kenyan host communities.  In recognition of the importance of responsibility sharing and advancing solutions in protracted displacement, the United States has resettled more than 26,000 third country refugees from Kenya since 2014.
• Investing in the Security Sector:  The United States is making long-term investments in Kenya’s defense capabilities, including by building border security capabilities, increasing maritime security awareness, improving peacekeeping capacity, supporting humanitarian response, and strengthening civilian and military defense institutions.  The United States has invested heavily in Keya’s defense capabilities, providing over $230 million in civilian security and defense sector funding since 2020, with a strategic focus on our shared counterterrorism interests, including a robust partnership with the Massachusetts National Guard under the State Partnership Program. 
• Working Together to Bring Peace to Haiti:  The United States reaffirmed its support for Kenya’s plan to deploy 1,000 police to Haiti as part of the MSS mission to Haiti to help bring security and stability to the Caribbean nation.  Answering the call from Haiti and the international community, Kenya has pledged lead an international force as authorized by a UN Security Council Resolution 2699.
• Bolstering Criminal Justice System Response to Counter Terrorism:   Consistent with the vision President Biden laid out at the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit, the State Department Bureau of Counterterrorism announced $18.7 million to help build the Kenyan criminal justice system’s ability to address terrorism threats in a manner consistent with the rule of law.  The funds provide training, mentorship, and equipment to investigators, forensic examiners, law enforcement, court officials, and prosecutors.  The programming also promotes the U.S. Strategy on Women, Peace, and Security through specialized training and mentorship for female law enforcement officers in Kenya engaged in counterterrorism efforts and capacity-building measures to improve the meaningful participation of women in peace and security.
• Countering Terrorism:  Underscoring our shared commitment in the fight against terrorism, U.S. and Kenyan officials plan to sign a Memorandum of Understanding to expand the Manda Bay Airfield in coastal Kenya by building a 10,000-foot runway.  The expanded facility provides Kenya the required infrastructure to increase operations against the terrorist group al-Shabaab.
• Deepening Cooperation on Information Sharing:  The two countries have committed to deepen cooperation on counterterrorism information sharing to constitute a comprehensive response to the international terrorist threat.  Additionally, Kenya is in the process of joining Operation Gallant Phoenix, a program that advances multinational collaboration and sharing of terrorist information to build mutual capacity to collect and use battlefield evidence in civilian criminal justice proceedings in a multiagency, multinational setting.  These initiatives should help both countries better protect our borders and our citizens from terrorist actors.
• Refurbishing and Delivering Helicopters:  Kenya is scheduled to receive 16 U.S.-manufactured helicopters between late 2024 and summer 2025 to bolster its ability to provide regional peace and security (8 Hueys) and participate in peacekeeping missions (8 MD-500s). 
• Continuing Military Procurement:  Kenya has one of the largest U.S. Foreign Military Sales portfolios in Africa.  Kenya selected approximately 150 M1117 Armored Security Vehicles from U.S. Excess Defense Article stocks, which are projected to arrive in Kenya September 2024.
• Collaborating in Military Exercises:  The United States welcomesKenya’s hosting of and participation in some of the largest U.S. military exercises in Africa, including Exercise JUSTIFIED ACCORD – the second largest U.S. military exercise in Africa – and Exercise CUTLASS EXPRESS, which focuses on building interoperability amongst multinational partners in the maritime environment.
• Deepening A Legacy of Military Training and Capacity Building:  In summer 2024, for the first time the Kenya Defence Forces have candidates starting courses at the U.S. Military Academy, the U.S. Naval Academy, and the U.S. Air Force Academy, building on a long tradition of the majority of Kenyan general officers benefitting from U.S. International Military Education Training courses.  The U.S. military currently has seven advisors in Kenya supporting Kenyan aviators and for the first time, the United States is providing a Strategic Logistics Advisor to Kenya’s Ministry of Defence.  Kenya’s U.S.-trained Disaster Response Battalion has also been involved in recent search and rescue operations in response to recent flooding in Kenya.

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AI needs all the fast data center storage we have

Ryan Meredith | June 2024

“Just give me all the bacon and eggs you have." 

Wait … I worry what you heard was, 'Give me a lot of bacon and eggs. ' What I said was, give me all the bacon and eggs you have.” 

 -Ron Swanson

Substitute bacon and eggs for high-capacity NVMe™ SSDs, and you’ll get a good picture of the current reality of the data center storage market. AI is consuming all the bacon and eggs we have, and it’s only going to get hungrier from here. 

In this blog, I’ll discuss three drivers for the near-term consumption of faster storage for AI.

• AI accelerators are… accelerating.
• Industry adoption of generative AI: No more cold data.
• Storage software innovation to optimize for TCO.

AI workloads don’t need fast storage, our old rickety HDD platform is doing fine.

Yes, it’s true that many AI workloads have been designed to use large block reads, mostly sequential, which is the optimal use case for HDDs. But that was with Gen3 and Gen4 AI accelerators, as Gen5 AI accelerators like the NVIDIA H100 become widely deployed and the industry readies for B100 and beyond, the pace of bandwidth increase for HBM is far greater than data center system architectures.

Here I’m comparing the bandwidth of 1 unit of AI compute; HBM bandwidth of 1 accelerator, the DRAM bandwidth of 1 CPU at 1 DPC with 8 channels, the bandwidth of 4 NVMe SSDs, and the bandwidth of 24 EAMR HDDs at their max transfer rate. I chose 24 HDDs because it’s typical to overprovision HDDs 6 to 1 versus NVMe SSDs to hit bandwidth requirements. I also chose the max transfer rate to model the best case for HDD. Note that the y-axis scale is log 2.

AI accelerators are rapidly increasing their compute capabilities, enabled by the advancement of HBM. This trend isn’t slowing down, the delta between HBM bandwidth and DRAM and NVMe SSDs is widening with every generation. 

This acceleration is driving the historically HDD-based AI workloads to high-capacity NVMe storage, like the Micron 6500 ION . We’re seeing this take place across many customers as the H100-class GPUs are finally starting to become available and are being deployed into more enterprise environments. 

While the advancement of AI accelerator capabilities is driving general storage use cases, faster storage can also address emerging AI workloads. 

Industry adoption of generative AI: No more cold data 

While the initial creation and training of generative AI models like LLMs are done by a few organizations on massive clusters of AI systems, the everyday use case of on-prem inference and fine-tuning is driving AI system adoption into most companies. 

Taking a trained model (like a chatbot) and then fine-tuning that model on a company’s proprietary data is becoming a common practice. Here at Micron, we’re using a variety of chatbot-focused tools along with code-generation tools that are trained on our data. Because of the sensitivity of this training data, fine-tuning must be done on-prem and kept within the local infrastructure. 

Where is that training data most likely to be stored? Generally, disparate HDD-based storage hardware from any number of vendors. In the past, the common data flow is from hot tier (SSD) to warm tier (HDD w/ SSD cache) to cold tier (slow HDD, possibly powered off) to archive (tape). As AI models advance, the new models will need to be re-trained on proprietary data repeatedly, which means that pulling data from the cold tier and below will cripple the ability to fine-tune effectively. Data is going to warm up, driving the adoption of faster, high-capacity storage systems. 

Storage software innovation to optimize for TCO 

For generative AI use cases to be viable, efficient utilization of AI systems is critical. Large language models are large and use a lot of HBM and DRAM. In many cases it is optimal to throw increasing amounts of clustered AI resources at a LLM to complete training as fast as possible. For cases like fine-tuning or large-scale inference, solving larger problem sets with less hardware, at the cost of time, will be the right play for TCO.  

This optimization is driving the development of innovative AI storage software stacks to effectively use fast NVMe SSDs to expand HBM or DRAM and to optimize the data path. Here are a few examples we’ve tested: 

• Micron showcases high-performance Gen5 NVMe with Dell Power Edge and innovative AI storage software .
• DeepSpeed ZeRO-Inference: Software for offloading kv-cache for inference to NVMe SSDs, enabling efficient use of system GPU, memory and storage for large-scale inference workloads.
• The Micron® 9400 NVMe™ SSD Performance With NVIDIA® Magnum IO GPUDirect® Storage Platform

All the bacon and eggs 

Storage requirements for AI workloads have lagged behind HBM and memory. Each generation of AI accelerator over the past 8 years has increased performance by five times or more over the previous generation. Early AI workloads were limited by compute resources and memory bandwidth, but with the quick rate of advancement of GPUs, it’s only a matter of time before most AI workloads will require some form of SSD storage. 

With generative AI becoming a common enterprise workload, solutions for efficient fine-tuning and training are driving innovations in storage software. High-performance NVMe SSDs can play a role as “slow” memory to enable efficient use of expensive and rare AI system resources. 

Micron is working closely with our industry partners to understand the unique requirements of AI workloads. We’re excited about the possibilities our technology will enable across the entire AI system architecture, HBM, memory and data center storage. 

Director, Storage Solutions Architecture

Ryan Meredith

Ryan Meredith is director of Data Center Workload Engineering for Micron's Storage Business Unit, testing new technologies to help build Micron's thought leadership and awareness in fields like AI and NVMe-oF/TCP, along with all-flash software-defined storage technologies.

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Delta Showcases Energy-saving Power, Cooling, and ICT Infrastructure Solutions for Cloud to Edge AI Data Centers at COMPUTEX TAIPEI 2024

PR Newswire

TAIPEI, June 5, 2024

TAIPEI, June 5, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Delta, a global leader in power management and a provider of IoT-based smart green solutions, is demonstrating its unique capabilities to enhance energy efficiency across the AI (Artificial Intelligence) realm at COMPUTEX TAIPEI 2024 under the theme "Discovering Delta's Cloud to Edge AI." The showcase features a comprehensive portfolio of smart and energy-saving Data Center Infrastructure Solutions, AI server power supplies, air and liquid cooling systems, and passive components, encompassing both cloud and edge computing. Noteworthy highlights include the ORV3-compliant 66kW and 33kW server power shelves with PSUs boasting leading efficiency up to 97.5%, and a revolutionary vertical power delivery technology to support AI accelerator operations with higher energy efficiency.

Ping Cheng, Delta's Chairman and CEO, said, "As a global leader in switching power supplies and thermal management solutions, Delta is uniquely positioned to support the rapid rise of the AI industry. Delta's broad spectrum of power, cooling, and ICT infrastructure solutions helps our customers design or optimize their data center power architecture, enabling superior energy and cooling efficiency throughout the entire grid-to-chip power delivery process in AI data centers, even at the server rack stage and at the board level where AI processors operate. We look forward to cooperating even further with our customers to facilitate substantial energy conservation as AI computing power expands."

Shan-Shan Guo, Delta's Chief Brand Officer, underscored, "This year, under the theme of 'Discovering Delta's Cloud to Edge AI,' our booth design represents a large-scale AI data center with the actual server racks. The exterior of our booth introduces a prefabricated containerized data center solution while in the interior we showcase the core of data center infrastructure. From large systems to small key components, we demonstrate Delta's power and thermal management solutions for every level of data center operations. Furthermore, by presenting applications from the cloud to the edge, visitors will have an on-site opportunity to explore the behind-the-scenes of AI computing."

AI Power Supply, Thermal Management, and Passive Components

Ted Shyy, EVP of Delta's Power Electronics Business, stated, "By integrating leading-edge technologies in power supply, thermal management, and passive components, Delta can meet the high capability demands for power and heat dissipation from AI servers and chips. For example, Delta's visionary chip vertical power supply technology showcased at this event helps to save approximately 5-15% of power losses in the operations of AI accelerator systems (compared to traditional lateral power delivery). Delta is also debuting liquid cooling cold plate modules designed for the next generation of AI server GPU/CPU, when integrated together with Delta's high-performance cooling fans and in-rack coolant distribution unit (CDU), demonstrating our relentless technological innovation."

For AC/DC power supplies in server racks, Delta exhibits ORV3 (Open Rack v3)-compliant rack-mounted power shelves. These include the new 66kW and 33kW power shelves featuring power supply units (PSU) with energy efficiency as high as 97.5%, making them the mainstream for the next generation AI servers. To meet the DC/DC power conversion requirements of AI chips, Delta is showcasing a portfolio of DC/DC converters with output power ranging from 200W to 2,000W, with maximum efficiency up to 98.5%. These include the widely used 48V to 12V DC/DC converters for AI computing equipment. Delta also offers high-density power chokes that incorporate patented designs and materials to offer excellent saturation current and low power loss, thus ideal for voltage conversion in the support of AI accelerators.

Data Center Infrastructure

Richard Chan, General Manager of Delta's Data Center Segment Business Unit, said, "In the face of the rapidly growing demand for data centers, Delta possesses deep expertise and experience in data center power architecture planning. By integrating its complete ICT product and solutions portfolio, Delta is able to create highly efficient and flexible infrastructure that supplies power from medium voltage to servers, helping customers save operating costs and time effectively."

Delta's ICT Infrastructure Solutions displayed at COMPUTEX 2024 include Prefabricated Power Train Units (PTU), which can provide more than 1.7 MW of power in a 40ft container. Also showcased is the All-in-One Prefabricated Containerized Data Center Solution, which has already been implemented in more than 200 projects worldwide, integrates the infrastructure and IT equipment of data centers into containers to meet the rapid deployment and high scalability requirements of customers. In terms of thermal management, Delta is not only presenting energy-saving EC- technology High Power Air Movers for data centers, but is also demonstrating Air-Assisted Liquid Cooling (AALC) solutions to upgrade existing air-cooled data centers. In addition, Delta's Coolant Distribution Unit (CDU) liquid cooling solutions are capable of handling dozens of high-density racks exceeding 100kW to cope with the large amount of heat generated by AI computing. Lastly, Delta is exhibiting a new iDCIM solution that combines 3D Building Information Modeling (BIM) technology to facilitate one-stop effective management for data centers and buildings.

Edge AI and AI Applications

Delta also showcases advanced power supplies and ultra-thin heat dissipation module solutions for AI PCs and the AI-powered Cloud Surveillance Solution VORTEX. As for AI applications, Delta showcases an autonomous mobile robot with intelligent navigation capabilities that provides home delivery services in elevator buildings and an Enterprise Knowledge Q&A Chatbot that incorporates large language models.

COMPUTEX TAIPEI 2024 will be held from June 4th to June 7th. Welcome to visit Delta's M0320 booth at Hall 1, 4F, Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center.

About Delta

Delta, founded in 1971, is a global leader in switching power supplies and thermal management products with a thriving portfolio of smart energy-saving systems and solutions in the fields of industrial automation, building automation, telecom power, data center infrastructure, EV charging, renewable energy, energy storage and display, to nurture the development of smart manufacturing and sustainable cities. As a world-class corporate citizen guided by its mission statement, "To provide innovative, clean and energy-efficient solutions for a better tomorrow," Delta leverages its core competence in high-efficiency power electronics and its ESG-embedded business model to address key environmental issues, such as climate change. Delta serves customers through its sales offices, R&D centers and manufacturing facilities spread over close to 200 locations across 5 continents.

Throughout its history, Delta has received various global awards and recognition for its business achievements, innovative technologies and dedication to ESG. Since 2011, Delta has been listed on the DJSI World Index of Dow Jones Sustainability™ Indices for 13 consecutive years. Delta has also won CDP with double A List for 3 times for its substantial contribution to climate change and water security issues and has been named Supplier Engagement Leader for its continuous development of a sustainable value chain for 7 consecutive years.

For detailed information about Delta, please visit: www.deltaww.com

Delta's highlights at COMPUTEX TAIPEI 2024:

• AI Data Center Solutions: Delta offers flexible data center infrastructure solutions to reduce the total cost of ownership for high-density workloads in AI data centers. Our offerings encompass AC power, DC power, Air/Liquid Cooling solutions, ORV3 rack, busway systems, Li-ion battery systems, DCIM, networking infrastructure, remote PC arrays, and more.
• UPS Solutions: Delta has focused on the power industry for many years as a provider of energy-saving UPSs. Delta's DPM Gen2 UPS is our flagship UPS. It delivers up to 2.1 MW power capacity and offers up to 97.4% AC-AC efficiency.
• Li-ion Battery System: Delta provides a battery backup system in a 2U Power shelf system up to 15 kW capacity with 6pcs BBU modules and a lithium-ion UPS battery system which is up to 470 kW power and 62 kW in a single cabinet. It is certified with global safety standards, including UL1973, IEC62619, and UL9540A tested and offers 2-3 times longer life than traditional batteries.
• Air Cooling/Liquid Cooling Solutions: Delta presents an extensive array of air and liquid cooling products, delivering tailored solutions for traditional data centers to AI data centers. We feature AALC solutions perfect for upgrading existing air cooling systems. Delta's CDU solutions efficiently cool dozens of high-density racks and offer ideal solutions to the cooling challenges of AI data centers.
• BIM-empowered iDCIM solution and service: Combining 3D BIM (building information modeling) with iDCIM solution, it optimizes the facilities arrangement and enhances the maintenance efficiency, providing one-stop management of data center and building.

AI Power Supply Solutions

• DCDC Converters for GPUs: The extensive portfolio of DC/DC converters for AI servers and GPUs features output power ranging from 200 to 2,000W, 400VDC input voltage, up to 98.5% efficiency, and power density exceeding 5,000 W/in³. The highlighted 48V to 12V DCDC converters and the world-leading technology of vertical power delivery are able to enhance power conversion efficiency for GPUs.
• 20kW Power Capacitance Shelf: The 20kW PCS, equipped with lithium-ion capacitors and designed to mitigate AC grid reflections from peak system loads, supports peak power demands and serves as backup power with a holdup time of 15 seconds under a full 20kW load. It ensures stable and reliable power supply in AI and cloud computing servers, and data centers.
• 1RU 33kW Power Shelf: Delta has taken the lead in launching the new 19-inch 33kW AC/DC Power Shelf, designed to meet the power supply needs of the NVIDIA Blackwell platform in AI data centers. With a reduced dimension from 21 inch to 19 inch, the new 1RU power shelf manages to deliver 33kW power with six compact 5.5kW power supply units and 97.5% efficiency.
• 3OU ORV3 HPR 66kW Power Shelf: The debuted 66kW Power Shelf integrated twelve 5.5kW PSUs with 48V high-voltage output, reducing energy loss during transmission. It features PMC with PoE functionality and four relay modules with C19 connectors.
• 400W AI Gaming Laptop Adaptor: The exclusive 400W high-end gaming laptop adaptor on the market fulfills serious gamers' requirements for a highly efficient power supply. With DOE Level VII and ERP Lot VII compliance, it guarantees a seamless gaming experience and high energy efficiency.
• High Power Density, High Efficiency Power Choke: Delta develops low profile, multi-phase TLVR power choke that enhance transient response and power conversion efficiency, while reducing layout space and power consumption by optimizing coil parameter characteristics and powder material, in order to meet the power demand of high current transient in AI servers.

AI Thermal Management Solutions

• Cold Plate Loops and Rack CDU for Liquid Cooling: The complete liquid cooling solutions to meets the cooling requirements of latest generation of AI GPU/CPU, includes Cold Plate Loops at server level offering and Coolant Distribution Unit (CDU) at rack level offering, integrated to achieve leading efficiency for liquid cooled AI servers and racks.
• 3D Vapor Chamber / AI Server Fan for Air Cooling: The complete air cooling solutions to meet the cooling requirements of latest generation of AI GPU/CPU, includes the high efficiency, high airflow AI Server Fan, which increase air flow by 30% comparing to general server fan with no increase in power consumption, as well as the advance 3D Vapor Chamber offerings with cooling capacity ranging 700W ~1000W for different GPU brand and platform; integrated to achieve highly efficient air cooling solution tailored to AI GPU / CPU.
• High Power Air Mover: Addressing energy-saving needs of data center facility cooling, the cutting-edge energy-saving EC Technology High Power Air Mover, combines Delta core technologies in DC Motor/ Impeller Design/ Power Conversion, can enable more than 30% saving in energy consumption of the power hungry data center cooling equipment, such as Chiller/AHU.
• AI PC Thermal Solutions: Through integrating Step VC and Slim Flat-End Heat Pipe with the high-efficiency Slim Fan designed with latest turbo blade and three-phase motor, Delta provides an integrated slim thermal solution for AI PC, increasing 30% in cooling efficiency while consuming 30% less power, ensuring a highly efficient and reliable AI PC.

AI Applications

• Enterprise Knowledge Q&A Chatbot : The enterprise knowledge Q&A chatbot utilizes internal corporate knowledge bases, coupled with large language model, to deliver high-quality responses to internal queries. It can also be coupled with private model to ensure the security of corporate confidential information.
• AIDEN ─ Autonomous Intelligence Robot: AIDEN is a heartland delivery and check-in service robot. It delivers food and household essentials to home-bound seniors and conduct house visits to reduce the workload of community care service providers. AIDEN differentiates itself with its ability to ride an elevator autonomously and navigate safely and courteously among human traffic.
• AI- p owered Cloud Surveillance -VORTEX : Employs Edge AI for real-time alerts, reducing false alarms and enhancing security for people, vehicles, and assets. It can integrate seamlessly, boosting management efficiency and minimizing risks.

SOURCE DELTA ELECTRONICS INC.

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Boeing Starliner flies NASA astronauts into space for first time

The third time was a charm for Boeing’s Starliner capsule, which finally blasted off with astronauts aboard for the first time ever Wednesday, kicking off a long-awaited, high-stakes test flight to the International Space Station.

The capsule launched at 10:52 a.m. ET, riding into orbit on an Atlas V rocket from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. 

Veteran NASA astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita Williams make up the Starliner's inaugural crew. They are expected to spend about a day journeying to the space station before docking with the orbiting outpost Thursday at 12:15 p.m. ET.

The Starliner program, including this first crewed flight, was plagued by years of delays and technical glitches. Most recently, a launch attempt Saturday was called off with less than 4 minutes remaining in the countdown. A previous attempt on May 6 was also scuttled after an issue cropped up with a valve in the Atlas V rocket, which is manufactured by United Launch Alliance, a joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin. A separate helium leak was later detected in the Starliner’s propulsion system, which led to further delays.

Boeing is hoping to catch up with Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which has been flying NASA astronauts to the International Space Station on its Crew Dragon capsule since 2020 . If this crewed Starliner flight is successful through landing, it could pave the way for Boeing to join SpaceX’s ranks, giving NASA a second option for routine flights to and from the space station.

Both companies developed their spacecraft as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. The initiative began more than a decade ago to support private companies in building new space vehicles to take astronauts to low-Earth orbit, following the retirement of the agency’s space shuttles.

Sunita Williams has been known to bring elements of her Indian heritage to space

Astronaut Sunita Williams, who's Indian American, has been known to bring items representing her culture with her to space. 

Williams, 58, has completed two other space missions. She previously told reporters that she brought some essentials onboard past flights, including sacred texts Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita and, of course, samosas.

“I really appreciate my Indian heritage and was glad I could bring part of it with me to space,” Williams said during a 2013 news conference in Delhi, before referencing the elephant-headed Hindu god. “Ganesh has always been in my house. Everywhere I’ve lived, I’ve had Ganesh, and so he had to come with me to space, of course. And Indian food — you can never get enough of Indian food … so I had to make sure I had some samosas in space with me. Other types of Indian food we definitely had up there as well.”

Date for astronauts' landing back on Earth is tentative

Denise Chow

The Starliner capsule and its astronaut crew is expected to spend about a week at the International Space Station.

NASA said the earliest landing opportunity is June 14, but that could change, particularly if there are additional activities for Wilmore and Williams to perform at the station.

“Boy, what a heck of a day it was today”

This morning's launch went about as well as anybody could ask for, according to representatives from NASA, Boeing and United Launch Alliance.

"Boy, what a heck of a day it was today," Steve Stich, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program manager, said in a post-launch news briefing.

Mark Nappi, vice president and program manager of Boeing's Commercial Crew Program, said the successful liftoff was a significant milestone for the company.

"My boss was here today, my boss’s boss was here today, and my boss’s boss’s boss was here today, so obviously it means a ton to us," Nappi said.

He added that Boeing teams are still focused on the mission ahead. After it's completed, they will prioritize the certification process, which would allow Boeing to conduct regular missions to the space station for NASA.

The Starliner capsule is scheduled to dock at the International Space Station tomorrow. If successful, that will be another major milestone checked off the list for this crewed test flight. The capsule will join five other vehicles already parked at the orbiting outpost, including one of SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsules.

"I'm really looking forward to seeing two U.S. vehicles at the International Space Station," said Ken Bowersox, associate administrator for NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate. "I know Butch and Suni will probably get a kick out of that, if they get a chance to look out the windows."

Cooling system being monitored

NASA and Boeing are monitoring a cooling system on the Starliner capsule that is used to regulate temperatures during launch and landing. In a post-launch news briefing, Steve Stich, NASA's Commercial Crew Program manager, said the system used more water than expected during ascent.

But he added that backup systems have been engaged and engineers will take a closer look at the data.

Elon Musk says congrats

Elon Musk, founder and CEO of SpaceX, Boeing’s rival spaceflight company, joined the chorus of well wishers.

“Congratulations on a successful launch,” he posted on X.

Musk is preparing for his own rocket launch this week: the fourth test flight of SpaceX’s Starship megarocket and spacecraft. That flight is expected to lift off tomorrow from the company’s Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas.

NASA's chief sends congratulations

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson celebrated today's Starliner launch, congratulating the teams at NASA, Boeing and United Launch Alliance on the successful liftoff.

"Today's launch is a milestone achievement for the future of spaceflight," he wrote on X. "Butch and Suni—safe travels through the stars. See you back home."

"Godspeed Starliner!" says astronaut scheduled to pilot it next

Dana Varinsky

NASA astronaut Mike Fincke, who is scheduled to be the pilot of the Starliner's first operational flight (this one is considered a test flight), celebrated the launch today.

Fincke trained with Wilmore and Williams as the backup pilot for this mission, and he conducted live commentary for this morning’s launch.

Fincke's mission will send him to the International Space Station for six months along with fellow NASA astronaut Scott Tingle, who will be the mission's commander, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Josh Kutryk.

One for the history books

Today’s launch was the first crewed flight of the Starliner capsule, but a number of other historic milestones were achieved, as well.

Astronaut Suni Williams became the first woman to test an orbital spacecraft. Today’s launch was also the 100th liftoff of United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket, and its first carrying a human crew.

Over the past two decades, the booster has been a workhorse for uncrewed missions for NASA and the U.S. military, but today's flight is a new beginning for the Atlas V rocket.

Earlier iterations of the Atlas rocket were used during NASA's Project Mercury, which was the country's inaugural human spaceflight program.

Next stop: The International Space Station

The Starliner capsule is now on its way to the International Space Station. The capsule is expected to dock at the station tomorrow at 12:15 p.m. ET.

“With Starliner’s launch, separation from the rocket and arrival on orbit, Boeing’s Crew Flight Test is right on track,” said Mark Nappi, vice president and program manager of Boeing’s Commercial Crew Program. “Everyone is focused on giving Suni and Butch a safe, comfortable ride and performing a successful test mission from start to finish.”

In addition to the two astronauts, the Starliner is also carrying about 760 pounds of cargo, including some food and items requested by the crew while on the space station.

Orbital insertion burn

Boeing said the Starliner capsule successfully performed what's known as an orbital insertion burn, which involves firing its thrusters to put the spacecraft into a more stable, elliptical orbit.

This essentially helps the capsule chase the space station as it prepares to rendezvous and dock with the orbiting outpost tomorrow.

Watch the moment Boeing's Starliner blasted off

Boeing's Starliner capsule lifted off successfully at 10:52 a.m. ET, carrying two NASA astronauts.

Starliner is in orbit

Mission controllers confirmed that the Starliner capsule has reached orbit and successfully separated from the Centaur upper stage, meaning it is now flying on its own in space.

So far, so good

The Atlas V rocket continues to perform well, according to NASA officials. The rocket's Centaur upper stage ignited to push the Starliner spacecraft into orbit. The next major milestone will be when the Centaur's main engine cuts off and separates from the capsule.

Solid rocket boosters have separated

The Atlas V's solid rocket boosters have been depleted of fuel and were successfully jettisoned as the spacecraft continues on to orbit.

Cheers and car alarms

Marissa Parra

Juliette Arcodia

Reporting from Cape Canaveral, Florida

A mix of cheers and car alarms sounding on the beach near the launch site as Starliner roars skyward.

We have liftoff

The rocket has cleared the tower.

"Godspeed, Butch and Suni," mission controllers radioed in the final seconds before liftoff.

A message from the astronauts

NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore sent a message to his colleagues with less than five minutes to go to liftoff.

"We all know that when the going gets tough, and it often does, the tough gets going. And you have," Wilmore told mission controllers. "Suni and I are honored to share this dream of spaceflight with each and every one of you."

"Let's get going," Wilmore said. "Let's put some fire on this rocket and push it to the heavens, where all these tough Americans have prepared it to be."

Williams also radioed a message back to mission control: "Let's go, Calypso," she said, referring to the name of the Starliner capsule. "Take us to space and back."

Past the last scrub point

And we’ve officially passed the 3:50 mark, where we scrubbed on Saturday.

We are "go" for launch

Mission controllers conducted a "go/no-go" poll and deemed all systems are ready for launch.

"You have permission to launch," the launch director radioed, as the countdown proceeds to liftoff.

Starliner capsule ready for launch

The suspended walkway has been retracted from the spacecraft and the Starliner capsule is now on its own internal power.

Quiet anticipation

All the media is outside getting ready, 8 minutes to launch — very silent out here as anticipation builds.

10 minutes to go

Jason Abbruzzese

We're about 10 minutes away from launch.

Weather is 'go' for launch

Conditions are still 90% favorable for liftoff, according to the latest weather briefing conducted by the Space Launch Delta 45 Weather Squadron.

There are beautiful, blue skies over the launch pad and weather is looking good for today’s long-awaited launch.

A (distant) view of launch pad 41

Here’s our view from the roof of the NBC News building with less than 30 mins to go until launch. You can see Cape Canaveral's Space Launch Complex 41 in the distance to the far right, where Starliner is planned to launch.

25 minutes to launch

We're roughly 25 minutes away from the scheduled launch time for Starliner.

Keep in mind, plenty of checks still have to happen, and the mission could be scrubbed again.

Still, looking good so far.

The first 31 minutes of flight

Things will get especially exciting in the first few minutes of flight.

Forty-five seconds after liftoff, the Starliner capsule and its crew will reach what's known as Max Q, or the maximum dynamic pressure that they will experience during ascent into orbit. This occurs right around when the spacecraft reaches Mach 1, the speed of sound.

At 11 minutes and 58 seconds into flight, the capsule will reach orbit. A few minutes later, the Starliner spacecraft will separate from the upper stage of the rocket and start flying on its own.

Thirty-one minutes into flight, the Starliner capsule will conduct a burn that will put it into a slightly elliptical orbit on its way to the International Space Station.

Spot the rocket

Even if you aren’t in and around Cape Canaveral, Florida, you may still be able to spot the Atlas V rocket as it carries the Starliner capsule to space.

The booster will be launching on a “flat and long” trajectory up the Eastern Seaboard, according to Tory Bruno, president and CEO of United Launch Alliance, which manufactures the Atlas V rocket. That means people all along the southern coast of the U.S. have a good chance of seeing the rocket on its way into orbit, he said.

Testing the Starliner capsule's manual mode

During this upcoming flight, the astronauts will perform a number of tests to show that the Starliner capsule can safely ferry crew members to and from low-Earth orbit.

Boeing’s spacecraft is designed to fly autonomously, but the astronauts will take the controls at various points to demonstrate the capsule’s handling and to practice emergency scenarios.

As the capsule approaches the space station, it is designed to autonomously dock with the orbiting outpost, but Wilmore and Williams again plan to test its manual controls tomorrow on their final approach.

SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule, which has been flying regular crewed flights to the space station since 2020, flies and docks on its own but has manual controls that can be activated, if necessary.

Meanwhile, in Texas...

Boeing is not the only one with a much-anticipated launch this week.

SpaceX is scheduled to conduct a fourth, uncrewed test flight of its Starship megarocket tomorrow. It will occur at SpaceX’s Starbase test site in Boca Chica, Texas, with a target launch window that opens at 8 a.m. ET.

Starship is the most powerful rocket ever developed. The upcoming flight aims to test technologies and techniques that will be key on future missions to the moon. In particular, SpaceX is hoping to demonstrate the reusability of the Starship system by showing that the upper-stage spacecraft and the rocket’s first-stage booster, known as Super Heavy, can make controlled and safe re-entries through Earth’s atmosphere.

Starship was selected by NASA to carry astronauts to the lunar surface for the agency’s Artemis III mission, which could launch in 2026.

What to expect

As the countdown clock ticks closer to liftoff, here’s what to expect.

The astronauts are now strapped into their seats and the Starliner capsule’s hatch is closed. A series of leak checks will be performed, then the "crew access arm" — the suspended walkway used to access the capsule — will retract away from the spacecraft.

Next, various teams of mission controllers will conduct a “go-no go” poll to confirm that all systems are ready for liftoff. Then, it’s all up to the Atlas V rocket to light and take the Starliner capsule and its crew to space.

After launch, there will be a number of key milestones to keep an eye on. Around 15 minutes after liftoff, the Starliner capsule will separate from the upper stage of the rocket. Roughly 16 minutes after that, the spacecraft will conduct a burn to help it reach a stable orbit.

Next, Wilmore and Williams will spend around 24 hours journeying to the International Space Station. Docking with the orbiting outpost is expected tomorrow at 12:15 p.m. ET.

What's inside the Starliner capsule

This mission is a test flight but the Starliner capsule is packed with nearly 800 pounds of cargo to take to the International Space Station.

Most importantly, the spacecraft is carrying a new pump for the space station's urine processor assembly, which filters and recycles urine and other wastewater, turning it into safe drinking water.

The capsule is also loaded with mission patches, pins, American flags, collectible coins and a hard drive loaded with thousands of pieces of artwork made by children from around the world. The astronauts have packed along some personal items for family and friends, and some other surprise items will be revealed during the mission, according to NASA.

The press assembles

We’re setting up here at the NBC News building and the parking lot is getting more full with members of the media.

About two hours before launch, there were already about 15 tripods set up for live shots down by the countdown clock, and members of the Kennedy Space Center media team and members of the press were making preparations.

Closing the hatch

Personnel are now closing the hatch of the Starliner capsule.

“See you in a couple weeks,” one team member radioed to the astronauts in the spacecraft.

Next, the capsule will be pressurized to check for any leaks.

Aerial views of the rocket

All eyes are on the launch pad as preparations continue for a scheduled 10:52 a.m. ET liftoff.

From the oceans to the cosmos

The astronauts are bringing a small, sequined narwhal toy with them to space. The toy was chosen to be their “zero-gravity indicator,” which serves as a visual indicator that the Starliner capsule has reached the weightlessness of microgravity.

Look for the narwhal to be floating around the spacecraft (on a tether!) when the crew reaches orbit.

Getting buckled in

Astronauts Butch Williams and Sunita Williams are getting strapped into their seats inside the Starliner capsule. Another round of spacesuit leak checks will be performed, and teams will make sure the crew members can reach all of their controls and communicate with mission managers on the ground.

The Starliner craft is relatively roomy, as far as space capsules go. The interior is roughly equivalent to a midsize SUV, according to NASA.

Weather looks good for launch

Weather conditions are 90% favorable for liftoff this morning.

Teams are monitoring the possibility of cumulus clouds forming around the launch pad closer to launch time, but NASA officials said the threat is currently low. It’s dangerous to launch through puffy cumulus clouds because that can trigger a lightning strike, which would endanger the astronauts onboard.

Beyond Florida, mission managers also need to keep an eye on weather conditions all along the rocket’s ascent corridor up the Eastern Seaboard. This is because there are points along that path where, if something were to go wrong, the Starliner capsule could abort and separate off the top of the rocket before splashing down in the Atlantic Ocean.

A family affair

In an interview hours before Saturday’s launch attempt was called off, Sunita Williams’ mother, Bonnie Pandya, told NBC News that her daughter was in good spirits.

“She’s very upbeat. She’s so happy about going,” Pandya said. “She loves it.”

Pandya said she expects her own emotions will run high when her daughter finally lifts off.

“When it goes, I’ll get very emotional,” Pandya said. “She’s my beautiful little girl — the baby of the family.”

Rock, paper, scissors...

Before heading to the launch pad, Wilmore and Williams are playing a game of "rock, paper, scissors" with Joe Acaba, chief of the Astronaut Office. This is a new take on an old tradition of playing a game of cards before launch, dating back to the space shuttle era.

The goal is to lose the games before heading to the launch pad. Why? Because the astronauts are effectively leaving their bad luck behind on Earth before lifting off.

Rocket is fueled and ready to go

NASA officials say that the Atlas V rocket is now fully fueled at the launch pad.

Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are finishing up leak checks on their spacesuits before they head to the launch site.

Fellow astronaut Michael Fincke, who trained with Wilmore and Williams as the mission’s backup pilot and is conducting live commentary for this morning’s launch, said the crew members are ready to fly.

“We’ve been waiting for over five years to get Starliner launched, but they are very, very excited about today,” Fincke said. “You can see that they’re focused on getting the job done and they are very ready for this mission, and they wish all of us a great experience in joining them on this great journey.”

Medical checks cleared

Boeing said early this morning that the astronauts have cleared medical checks.

Meet the astronaut crew

NASA astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita Williams are set to make history as the first crew members to fly aboard the Starliner capsule .

Wilmore and Williams are both veteran astronauts and former test pilots in the U.S. Navy. NASA selected the pair in 2022 for Boeing’s first crewed test flight.

Wilmore, the mission’s commander, has completed two previous spaceflights, logging 178 days in space. A Tennessee native, he piloted the space shuttle Atlantis to the space station in 2009, and also launched to the orbiting outpost aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft in 2014 as a member of the space station’s Expedition 41 crew.

Williams, the mission’s pilot, previously completed two stints aboard the International Space Station, totaling 322 days in space. She grew up in Needham, Massachusetts, and first flew to the space station on the space shuttle Discovery and remained there for about six months.

In 2012, Williams returned to space, this time in a Russian-built Soyuz spacecraft. Her second stay on the space station lasted roughly four months.

Why this flight is important

The Starliner’s crewed test flight is required for Boeing to show that its spacecraft can safely carry astronauts to and from the International Space Station.

Rival company SpaceX has been conducting routine flights to the space station with its Crew Dragon capsule since 2020. Boeing is hoping that a successful test flight will help it catch up to SpaceX and will provide NASA with a long-awaited second option.

Boeing’s Starliner and SpaceX’s Crew Dragon were both developed as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, which was launched more than a decade ago to support the creation of new, privately built space vehicles to fill the void left when the agency retired its space shuttles.

Third time's a charm?

It’s launch day for Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft!

This will be the third attempt to launch the capsule on its first flight with a crew onboard, following repeated delays, so the event should be closely watched.

The Starliner completed an uncrewed test flight to the International Space Station in 2022, paving the way for it to carry astronauts. But its first try at a crewed launch, on May 6, was scrubbed with about two hours remaining in the countdown due to an issue with a valve on the rocket. A helium leak was later found in the capsule’s propulsion system, which led to further delays.

Then on Saturday, a second launch attempt was  called off with less than four minutes to go before liftoff , after an automatic abort was triggered by one of the computers that controls the Atlas V rocket on which the Starliner rides to space. The rocket is manufactured by United Launch Alliance, a joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin.

Those setbacks followed years of delays and budget overruns in Boeing's Starliner program, so the stakes are high today.

Denise Chow is a reporter for NBC News Science focused on general science and climate change.

Marissa Parra is a national correspondent for NBC News based in Miami, Florida.

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by Released

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