SpaceChain to Deploy Commercial Blockchain Tech With SpaceX Launches in June

Decentralized infrastructure provider SpaceChain is expecting to send a number of commercial services into orbit next month.

On Tuesday, the firm announced two missions aboard SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets that are both expected to take place in June. The first, slated for June 3 and made possible by a relationship with space solutions firm Nanoracks, will see SpaceChain's "space node" launched and ultimately installed at the International Space Station (ISS). That will act as a first demonstration of Ethereum technology on SpaceChain's existing hardware aboard the ISS.

The development is just the latest in the crypto sector's long fascination with space travel. Earlier this week, for example, UMA and Opium teamed up to provide decentralized insurance cover for SpaceX flights.

The firm said having an Ethereum node in space brings physical security when transacting in crypto assets.

"The security of space infrastructures also ensures the independence of Ethereum contract operation from centralized terrestrial servers, thus providing more efficient smart contract operation and greater application scenarios," the firm said in a statement.

The node will later enable the company's client, digital asset manager Nexus Inc., to develop additional blockchain capabilities for enterprise business applications.

The second launch, expected June 24, will bring about the installation of Bitcoin nodes created for cryptocurrency exchange Biteeu and Nexus Inc. on a YAM-2 satellite. This mission will be carried by a Falcon 9 rocket under the SpaceX's Rideshare program. and will be operated by Loft Orbital.

These nodes will enable services such as a Bitcoin hardware wallet allowing Nexus to provide "ultra-secure" multisignature transactions for clients, and highly secure bitcoin transactions and data back-up for Biteeu.

A third part of the payload for this mission will be a node for Divine, a community project leveraging space technology to broadcast the teachings of the Quran around the globe.

"The launch missions are paving the way for the commercialization of space-based innovations as we see more enterprises share the same vision in leveraging the new space economy for heightened security and immutability," said Zee Zheng, SpaceChain co-founder and CEO.