SpaceComputer, a startup planning to make use of satellites to carry out blockchain-secure computing, has raised $10 million in a seed spherical, in accordance with an announcement shared completely with The Defiant. The corporate stated the funds can be used to construct an orbital community that may safely deal with blockchain operations from house.
The seed spherical was co-led by Maven11 and Lattice, with participation from Superscrypt, Arbitrum Basis, Nascent, Offchain Labs, Hashkey, Refrain One, and others. Particular person traders embrace Mark Weinstein, Jason Yanowitz, and Ameen Soleimani. The funding follows a pre-seed spherical led by Primitive Ventures earlier this 12 months, the assertion stated.
The funding can be used to construct and launch SpaceComputer's first satellite tv for pc and the safe computing {hardware} it would carry. The satellites, known as SpaceTEE models, will carry out safe blockchain and cryptographic duties from house, in accordance with a press launch.
The funding may also go towards constructing community software program, configuring how satellites work collectively, and offering new providers equivalent to non-public computing and safe record-keeping.
This funding highlights the rising curiosity in advancing blockchain infrastructure utilizing new approaches equivalent to house know-how. Shifting past conventional satellites might make blockchain operations harder on Earth.
“The SpaceComputer venture represents optimistic but reasonable cypherpunk ambitions,” stated co-founder Daniel Barr. “House is open for enterprise, and we’re quickly getting into an period the place an increasing number of purposes will embrace space-based computing and communications layers.”
Barr added that the “significance and alternative” of the house for decentralized know-how is “simple.”
Main monetary establishments are additionally exploring the potential of satellites for safe transactions. A number of years in the past, JPMorgan's digital property division examined what it known as “the world's first bank-led switch of tokenized worth in house.” The banking big used a blockchain community deployed on low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites to execute sensible contract transactions.
These developments come as scientists turn out to be extraordinarily involved in regards to the rising quantity of house particles. In 2023, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) warned in a letter to Congress that particles from LEO satellites like SpaceX's Starlink constellation might pose a hazard to individuals on the bottom through the reentry course of.
One other examine in 2022 claimed that Elon Musk's satellite tv for pc fleet was blocking the view of astronomers' telescopes.
SpaceComputer is primarily recognized for testing satellites on SpaceX's Falcon 9 and releasing instruments for builders to entry computing from house.
The corporate is presently collaborating with researchers on the Technical College of Munich, Cornell Tech, and the College of California, Santa Barbara to analysis extraterrestrial computing for blockchain purposes.
