If the Sunshine State is known for anything, it’s the shenanigans of residents that started the legend of Florida man. So it’s more than fitting that a Florida tech startup has the wild goal of building lunar data center servers. Gizmodo reports the startup, called Lonestar Data Holdings, recently secured $5 million in funding to achieve its goal. So, why does a company want to build a server on the moon?
Why put data center servers on the moon?
“Data is the greatest currency created by the human race,” said Lonstar founder Chris Stott. We are dependent upon it for nearly everything we do […]. Earth’s largest satellite, our moon, represents the ideal place to safely store our future.”
Essentially, it’s a lot harder and more costly to mess with these data centers if they’re on the moon’s surface. And the moon provides the perfect location for low-latency processing, meaning you can access the data quickly. Additionally, the growing number of massive servers on Earth contributes heavily to pollution. Data centers consume large amounts of energy. Storing them on the moon’s surface is a clever way to circumvent the energy pollution affecting the Earth’s atmosphere.
How will Lonestar achieve its goal?
In June, Lonestar will launch a data center the size of a hardcover book on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Lonestar is collaborating with Texas-based aerospace company Intuitive Machines to launch its data center on the company’s second lunar mission. According to Space News, the first lunar mission, IM-1, launches in June 2023. The second launch, IM-2, will happen sometime later in the year. NASA funded Intuitive Machines through the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS).
Lonestar’s lunar data center server initiative could mark the beginning of extra-planetary commercialization. The startup’s lead funder, Scout Ventures’ founder Brad Harrison, said storing data on the moon’s surface is essential for further lunar exploration. “Expanding the world’s economy to encompass the moon […] is the next whitespace in the new space economy,” said Harrison. “Data security and storage will be a necessary part of leading the new generation of lunar exploration.”
