Thought Leadership
The US startup Lonestar Data Holdings is getting serious about its plans to install the first physical data center on the surface of the moon. The company announced on Tuesday that the fully assembled data center will be launched on board a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at the end of next month.
Cheaper rocket launches, unlimited solar energy and low-cost cooling systems have triggered a race among start-ups to turn space into a giant data hub. The aim is to meet the growing computing power requirements of new technologies such as AI.
“We are doing everything we can to ensure that the mission runs smoothly,” Lonestar CEO Chris Stott told Reuters. “The idea of using the largest satellite on earth as an anchor point gives us the necessary distance for secure communication.” The focus is on disaster recovery and data storage, not on latency-critical applications.
First customers already on board
Lonestar has already been able to acquire well-known customers for the “Freedom” data center, which is powered by solar energy and uses naturally cooled solid-state drives. These include the US state of Florida, the government of the Isle of Man, the AI company Valkyrie and, surprisingly, the pop-rock band Imagine Dragons. The ground connection is made via a Flexential backup data center in Tampa, Florida.
The concept of space-based data centers is becoming increasingly important as the energy requirements for operating terrestrial facilities are rising sharply. Just last month, rival company Lumen Orbit raised 11 million US dollars in a financing round at a valuation of 40 million dollars. According to Pitchbook data, Lonestar itself has so far raised just under 10 million dollars at a valuation of less than 30 million dollars.
However, installing data centers in space comes with its own challenges: complex maintenance, limited upgrade options and high launch costs for rockets. There is also the risk of failed rocket launches.
Study: Economically and ecologically feasible
Domenico Vicinanza from Anglia Ruskin University also sees the relocation of data centers to space as an opportunity for climate protection. The scientist recently pointed out the unique advantages of the space environment: in strategically favorable locations, the facilities could be supplied with solar energy throughout, while the extreme cold in the shade enables energy-efficient cooling.
The EU project “Ascend”, in which renowned companies such as Ariane, Airbus and Thales Alenia as well as the German Aerospace Center are involved, confirms this perspective. A study completed in summer 2024 came to the conclusion that space data centers are both economically and ecologically feasible – provided that the emissions of the launch vehicles can be reduced by a factor of around ten.
