This startup wants to back up your data on the Moon in a 'data center' that could probably sit in the palm of your hand

• Lonestar plans to offer disaster recovery services from the Moon
• It successfully tested a lunar software-defined data center in 2024
• Its next mission, launching soon, will test a physical data center (kind of)

We all know how important it is to back up our personal data in case of a disaster - I certainly learned that lesson the hard way years ago when a hard drive malfunctioned and fried my desktop PC. As devastating as that was for me personally, for businesses, the loss of data can be catastrophic, as while files and folders can be backed up in many ways, including to the cloud, offsite data centers, tape storage, and NAS, some solutions take the idea to the extreme.

One such example is the Arctic World Archive (AWA), which stores data-filled containers inside a sealed chamber within a decommissioned coal mine in Svalbard, between mainland Norway and the North Pole. If that isn’t safe and remote enough for you, well, there’s always space.

Florida-based Lonestar Data Holdings was founded by Chris Stott in 2021 to provide data services such as Disaster Recovery and Resilience-as-a-Service from Earth’s ultimate backup location - the Moon.

A RISC-V venture

Lonestar successfully tested the world’s first software-defined data center on the International Space Station (ISS) in 2021 and 2022, then conducted a full data storage test from the Moon's surface last year.

Working with its lunar access provider, Intuitive Machines, Lonestar completed its first mission to the Moon (called "Independence") with a proof-of-concept demonstration after the IM-1 Odysseus Nova-C lander touched down on the lunar south pole last February. It wasn’t a complete success, as the vehicle ended up on its side.

Lonestar’s next mission, again with Intuitive Machines (this one called "Freedom"), will be a test of its first physical “data center” (a RISC-V processor with a Phison SSD running Ubuntu) sent off-planet. That mission is set to launch on February 26.

Writing about Lonestar, Blocks and Files says, “The Freedom IT unit has a 3D-printed casing designed by BiG, an architecture and design group led by Danish architect Bjarke Ingels. The exterior is said to ‘reflect the silhouettes of NASA astronauts Charlie Duke (Apollo Moonwalker) and Nicole Stott (Space Station Space Walker).’

It is somewhat unexpected that a small computer system in a lunar landing vehicle would have resources devoted to a casing that, once enclosed in the Athena vehicle and loaded into the SpaceX launch rocket, will never be seen again. Presumably, Lonestar wants to capture people’s imagination with the idea.” As far as marketing stunts go, it’s a good one.

Assuming everything goes to plan, Lonestar hopes to begin continuous commercial services in 2026.

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