European Space Agency (ESA) Funds SpaceChain’s Foray Into Commercial Satellite Solutions
SpaceChain has been accepted into the ESAs kick start program, where the agency gives funding and development support to entrepreneurs looking to explore thematic segments of commercial space exploration. As per a press release, September 18, 2019, SpaceChain aims to use satellite blockchain tech with multi-signature transactions to bring more security to distributed ledgers.
Innovative Blockchain Solutions
Space is the final frontier of exploration left for humankind to unravel. Companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin popularized the concept of cross planetary travel, and there is a newfound emphasis on finding solutions to utilize the coverage and depth of space to improve quality of life here on Earth.
SpaceChain wants to enable better on-chain security by launching a satellite that monitors blockchain activity. So far, the company has managed to produce an operating system and has tested two nodes in space.
Zee Zheng, CEO of SpaceChain, is delighted that the ESA sees potential in his venture. Zheng opines that FinTech, as a whole, is actually plagued by trifling security measures.
If a user’s private key is compromised, it usually results in the complete loss of the sole right to access their funds. SpaceChain solves this with their multi-signature wallet, enabled by satellite.
It utilizes a signature scheme where three keys are generated, and at least two are needed to get access to the address. The satellite acts as one of those signatures. Considering it is satellite-enabled, funds are accessible even without internet connectivity, similar to Blockstream’s satellite.
Cryptocurrency and Space
This isn’t the first instance of a blockchain company foraying into the realm of space exploration. Earlier, ConsenSys purchased an asteroid mining company at the height of exuberance in the industry.
NASA discovered an asteroid, Psyche 16, that exists between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. This is no ordinary asteroid. Psyche 16 contains enough gold to make everyone on earth a billionaire.
Asteroid mining and continued developments in space travel could see humans reaching this asteroid and extracting gold from it. This would cause the price of gold to plummet as its much value scarcity would disappear into thin air.
While this is a long shot, it shows the value of Bitcoin: a cryptocurrency with a hard supply cap that cannot be generated outside of the Bitcoin blockchain. Digital scarcity is proving to be the only scarcity, as with the unfathomable size of the universe, tangible commodities are likely to be available in abundance.
