Lonestar Data Holdings is taking data security to the next level with the launch of a data center that will literally be out of this world.
The company aims to utilize the largest satellite in our skies, the Moon, by placing the first data center on its surface next month, according to Reuters. The data center will be transported fully assembled by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and positioned on the lunar surface by Intuitive Machine’s moon lander, Athena. Once in place, it will enable broadband links to every nation on Earth.
The idea behind the startup is to store and protect “premium mission-critical data” in an environment safe from natural disasters, global warming, ransomware, theft, nation-state attacks, and human error. The data center, dubbed “Freedom,” will be powered by a limitless supply of solar energy and have access to a “built-in natural source of cooling,” according to a company video.
The need to protect data is becoming more critical than ever, as it is the “beating heart of our technological civilization,” per the Lonestar video.
“Every day the human race creates over 2.5 quintillion bytes of new data more than yesterday, and this rate of creation is doubling every two years. The more valuable our data becomes, the more at risk it is from loss, theft, and disaster,” the company’s website states.
In February 2024, Lonestar conducted a successful proof-of-concept flight to the Moon, which included testing its data storage, data refresh, and data restore capabilities, both en route to the Moon and from its surface. Lonestar became the first company in history to provide a commercial service from the Moon.
In 2026, Lonestar plans to launch three satellites that will operate in rear orbit. Looking further ahead, the company’s goal is to “build and deploy exabyte and yottabyte-level facilities in lava tubes deep within the moon itself.”
The data center will have an Earth-based backup facility in Tampa, Florida.