Blockchain In Space: How Is The Tech Used Outside The Earth?

SpaceX, one of the leaders in the space race, has publicly spoken about its plans to land the Starship on the moon in the next three years – and carry a manned mission soon after. However, just like the company’s plans to develop new technologies, it seems like blockchain in space is a concept that is also being looked into.

Some see a rising opportunity for blockchain in space, shaking up the status quo which has been dominated by nation states and large companies before. This month, ConsenSys announced its plans to track space debris using the Ethereum blockchain.

Last month, SpaceChain got funded from the European Space Agency in an attempt to build a blockchain-based satellite network. All of these plans have been as ambitious and as vague as the ones on Earth – they are describing blockchain in space as a technology that will “decentralize space endeavors” (as ConsenSys puts it) or build a “community based space platform” (as SpaceChain puts it).

The blockchain latest news today show that there are more and more projects surrounding the technology. However, blockchain in space is still something that was not discussed much in the past.

One blockchain developer named Ondrej Sarnecky recently wrote a blog post stating that the space industry “revolves around the biggest players which include governments and large private companies.” Sarnecky also mentioned that it is very hard for anybody else to chip in mostly because of the big costs of such projects. Blockchain in space, however, can reduce the cost of entry in the space industry and make it accessible to the likes of people.

Spacebit is one of the companies which plans to do this. As their website shows, their main goal is to “democratise access to space by tokenizing all of our commercial space missions around the Earth, the Moon and beyond.”

In fact, the comapny even promises more than SpaceX (and for less, too). They want to use blockchain in space and send a lunar rover to the Moon by 2021. The mission that they have is small – to move and use sensors to map a 3D model of its environment and beam a video back down to Earth. Meanwhile, the company is also working on tokenizing space communications.

From tracking satellites to tracking space debris, blockchain in space is something that many have their bets on. The plan, for now, is to make the technology more secure and adopt it well in this industry.