SpaceChain receives funding for block chain network in orbit

Extraterrestrial ambitions are rewarded. The British block chain start-up SpaceChain will also install a block chain network in space. Bitcoin satellites are by no means a new invention.

SpaceChain, a UK block chain start-up, receives public funding for the development of a decentralised satellite network in orbit. According to a press release issued by BTC-ECHO, SpaceChain will receive £440,000 (around €480,000) in funding. The start-up will also have access to research and development facilities. Together with Addvalue Innovation and Alba Orbital, SpaceChain will develop a decentralised satellite infrastructure (DSI). At the core of the DSI, a block chain will be operated to enable direct control Bitcoin Rush of a satellite in real time. The network nodes will orbit in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) with a maximum altitude of 2,000 kilometres.

Once the DSI architecture and block chain payload are developed, a test phase will follow to verify reliable connectivity and performance. Once this has been successfully completed, space resource providers, satellite applications and Fintech companies will be able to access the SpaceChain network.

The grant is awarded by EUREKA’s Globalstars initiative. Founded in 1985, EUREKA is an international network that aims to promote R&D co-operation in 45 countries. As a result, 14 countries in the cooperation network have been invited to submit proposals for this project. With the planned block-chain operated mesh network of low earth orbit satellites, SpaceChain and its partners plan to „democratise access to the emerging space sector with lower barriers to entry for individual companies“.

Space exploration projects are enormous in scale and require close cooperation and partnership. This milestone opens up new opportunities for the development of commercial solutions using space and block-chain applications,

Nick Trudgen, Chief Commercial Officer and U.K. Director at SpaceChain

Blockchain in space

Already this summer SpaceChain announced that it had completed its first block chain transaction in space. The hardware housed in the International Space Station authorised a transfer of 0.0099 BTC (at that time around 92 US dollars). Jeff Garzik, the Chief Technology Officer, executed this transaction.

This will not be the first time, however, that the Blockchain has populated space. Blockstream has already sent a Bitcoin satellite into orbit. One of the special features of such space projects is that the satellite network is available around the clock throughout the world. Users are thus independent of an Internet connection and any country- or government-specific restrictions. In the case of blockstream, all that is required in addition to an existing satellite antenna is the purchase of a special „satellite kit“.