Insider Brief
- Lonestar Data Holdings launched a test device to the moon to evaluate the feasibility of space-based data storage as an alternative to Earth’s expanding data centers.
- Companies like Axiom Space and Starcloud are also exploring space-based computing, aiming to reduce reliance on terrestrial infrastructure and improve data processing efficiency.
- Challenges such as radiation exposure, power generation, and high launch costs must be addressed before space-based data centers become commercially viable.
- Image: Orbital data center network architecture from Starcloud white paper.
A Florida-based company is putting data storage to the test in space, raising the question of whether data centers should move beyond Earth’s surface.
Last week, Lonestar Data Holdings launched a shoebox-sized device aboard Intuitive Machines’ Athena lander, carrying data from internet pioneer Vint Cerf and the state of Florida. Once it lands on the moon later this week, it will be the first explicit test of storing and transferring data in space, MIT Technology Review reported.
The experiment comes at a time when Earth-based data centers are multiplying rapidly, consuming land, electricity and water. Some in the space industry see a future where data storage moves beyond the planet, using orbiting satellites or lunar infrastructure to secure and process data in a way that avoids the environmental and logistical challenges of terrestrial facilities.
A New Option for Secure Data Storage
Steve Eisele, Lonestar’s president and chief revenue officer, said security is a major reason for exploring lunar data storage.
“Ultimately, the moon can be the safest option where you can have a backup for your data,” Eisele told MIT Technology Review. “It’s harder to hack; it’s way harder to penetrate; it’s above any issues on Earth, from natural disasters to power outages to war.”
Lonestar’s test unit has eight terabytes of storage, roughly equivalent to a high-end laptop. It will operate for only a few weeks before lunar night begins, cutting off solar power. The short test period will allow the company to evaluate data transfer reliability and security.
Looking ahead, Lonestar aims to establish a commercial data storage service as early as 2027. The company envisions deploying multiple satellites at the Earth-moon Lagrange point L1, a gravitationally stable region about 61,350 kilometers above the moon’s surface. From there, spacecraft could maintain a continuous connection with Earth, enabling real-time data access.
A Growing Interest in Space-Based Data Centers
Lonestar is not alone in pursuing off-world data infrastructure. Axiom Space, known for facilitating private astronaut missions to the International Space Station, plans to send a prototype server to the station in the coming months. By 2027, Axiom hopes to establish a computing node in low Earth orbit aboard its own space station module.
Another company, Starcloud, is focused on in-space data processing rather than storage. The Washington-based startup raised $11 million in December and has since secured additional funding. It plans to launch a small satellite with Nvidia GPUs later this year to process data in space rather than transmitting it to Earth.
Jason Aspiotis, Axiom’s global director of in-space data and security, said storing and processing data in space could reduce reliance on Earth’s limited satellite ground stations.
“Data centers in space will help expedite many use cases,” Aspiotis told the technology magazine. “The time from seeing something to taking action is very, very important for national security and for some scientific applications as well. A computer in space would also save costs that you need to bring all the data to the ground.”
A computing hub in space would also cut costs by reducing the need to transfer large amounts of data to the ground.
Overcoming Technical and Economic Challenges
For space-based data centers to become viable, they must withstand extreme temperatures, radiation, and the threat of micrometeorite impacts. Energy generation is also a challenge. While solar power is abundant in space, it has not yet been harvested at the scale required to power full-sized data centers.
Damien Dumestier, a space systems architect at Thales Alenia Space, sees an environmental case for space-based data infrastructure.
“Data centers on Earth need a lot of power to operate, which means they have a high carbon footprint,” he told MIT Technology Review. “They also produce a lot of heat, so you need water to cool them. None of that is a problem in space, where you have unlimited access to solar power and where you can simply radiate excess heat into space.”
A study led by Thales Alenia Space proposed orbiting data centers that would be twice the size of the International Space Station. These platforms would house server racks powered by large solar arrays producing a megawatt of electricity — about four times the power generated by the ISS’s current solar panels.
However, moving data storage and processing to space comes with risks. Subsea fiber-optic cables, while vulnerable to sabotage, have proven to be a reliable backbone for global communication. In contrast, space-based data centers would face threats from solar flares and cosmic radiation.
Axiom plans to mitigate these risks by using military-grade hardened electronics designed to survive extreme environments. Lonestar, meanwhile, is exploring the idea of placing future lunar data centers in underground lava tubes to shield them from radiation.
The Future of Space-Based Computing
Some industry experts remain skeptical. Domenico Vicinanza, an associate professor of intelligent systems and data science at Anglia Ruskin University, cautioned that the technical hurdles are significant.
“Fixing problems in orbit is far from straightforward. Even with robotics and automation, there are limits to what can be repaired remotely,” he told MIT Technology Review.
He also added that any accidental damage to an orbital data center could create space debris, further complicating operations.
Despite these concerns, companies pushing for off-world data centers believe the technology is inevitable as human activity in space expands.
“The lunar economy will grow, and within the next five years we will need digital infrastructure on the moon,” Eisele said. “We will have robots that will need to talk to each other. Governments will set up scientific bases and will need digital infrastructure to support their needs not only on the moon but also for going to Mars and beyond. That will be a big part of our future.”
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