Lonestar Data Holding

Founded
Country
2018
USA
Funding
$5.8M+
Website
https://www.lonestarlunar.com/
Social
Lonestar Data Holding

Product/Service

Classification
Space Utilities
Category
In-Orbit Computing
In-Orbit Data Storage
Fields
Moon
Space Arks
Status
Development
First launch
2024
Partners
Intuitive Machines

Earlier in 2022 Lonestar Data Holdings announced that it wants to build a data center on the Moon for backing up the world’s data and also supporting lunar edge processing needs. Taiwan-based SSD controller and storage product company Phison announced that their SSDs have been certified to be used in lunar data centers.

Lonestar wants to archive data on the moon in its lunar data centers to protect that data from human or natural damage and data loss. In addition, as more activities are done on the moon that generate data or need data processing, having a lunar data center facility will avoid the latency and energy consumption penalties from sending that data back to the earth.

In the latter half of 2023 NASA will send a Nova-C lander to the Moon’s South Pole on an Artemis spacecraft that is scheduled to include a hardware prototype from Lonestar. This is to be a one-kilogram storage device with 16TB of storage.

Lonestar said it has also signed a contract with Intuitive Machines to test data transfer and storage capabilities during the lander developer’s first mission, IM-1, which will attempt to land Nova-C at Oceanus Procellarum located at the western edge of the near side of the moon. These tests will use a software-only “virtual payload.”

Lonestar plans to do upload and download tests as well as running some applications on this lunar hardware using communication with radio signals. The company has talked about launching servers that can hold several petabytes of data in 2024 and 50PB by 2026 with data rates of 15Gb/s data rates. The company plans to use robots to install its hardware in lava tubes on the moon to shield its servers from wide swings in temperature and cosmic radiation.

Skycorp, Lonestar’s space logistics company, selected Phison to supply the storage for the Lonestar 2023 mission. In order to qualify Phison’s 8TB M.2 SSD had to pass NASA Technology Readiness Level 6 (TRL-6) certification (see image below). This included running the product in deep cryogenic temperatures and in vacuum as well as electromagnetic environment testing and vibration and shock testing to simulate launching and landing.

Already accepting customers for the next mission, which will hold five petabytes. After that, he plans to scale the following missions to 50 petabytes, then 100, and ultimately, when vehicles capable of heavier payloads become available, exabyte-level facilities.

Lonestar Celestium ISS Edge Computing Demonstration (ISS Edge Computing on ManD) demonstrates creation of original space-based artwork using artificial intelligence and a science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM) education program. The artwork is generated by a computer configured with the station’s Additive Manufacturing Facility 3D printer based on a characteristic of the space station and is delivered as a non-monetary non-fungible token (NFT). This project could help promote public engagement with space exploration, the International Space Station, and artificial intelligence-produced space-based art.

Eayst Noa Ltd, a data storage solutions provider based in Douglas, is preparing to send data to the moon on the first Intuitive Machines’ NOVA C mission, 2023-10-27.

Lonestar Data Makes it to the Moon on IM-1 Lunar Lander, 2023-02-23:

Lonestar Will Launch a Second Lunar Data Center Onboard Intuitive Machines’ IM-2, 2024-04-08.

Status Comment / Notes

Intuitive Machines IM-2 is scheduled for mid-2024 as of late 2023. The company will launch on the second lander as an 8TB hardware deployment.

The company in October announced that it would transmit the US Declaration of Independence to the Moon and back on its first lunar deployment on board the Intuitive Machines IM-1 lunar lander as a software deployment.

News, Research, Projects and Patents

Title Type Date Summary
Storage In Outer Space News 2022-12-27

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