St. Pete startup’s moonshot: Lunar data center launches today

A St. Petersburg-based company’s ambitious quest to plant the world’s first physical data center on the Moon is about to take a giant leap forward.

Lonestar Data Holdings could make history for the second time if Wednesday evening’s launch is successful. The local startup became the first to transmit data to and from space in February 2024.

Lonestar’s “Freedom” payload will establish the first beyond-Earth data storage, recovery and edge processing hardware. CEO Chris Stott’s once seemingly far-fetched plans have since garnered international support, and he called the vindication “lovely to see.”

“At this time last year, we were science fiction,” Stott said. “We did our mission, and we became science fact. And now, this year, it’s almost normal.”

Chris Stott, founder and CEO of Lonestar Lunar, explains how his company will store data on the Moon at January’s State of Science and Innovation event. Photo by Mark Parker.

Intuitive Machines has integrated the eight-terabyte data center into its innovative lunar lander, “Athena.” A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the equipment will launch from Kennedy Space Center at 7:17 p.m., barring unforeseen circumstances.

Renowned architect Bjarke Ingels designed the data center’s 3-D-printed enclosure to reflect the silhouettes of astronauts Charles Duke, who became the youngest person to walk on the Moon during NASA’s Apollo missions, and Stott’s wife, Nicole.

Nicole is a retired spacewalker who spent 104 days aboard the International Space Station. “This will last for 1,000 years on the moon,” Stott noted.

Lonestar’s inaugural software-based mission beamed the Declaration of Independence to and from the Moon. Stott called Freedom a “much bigger test.”

He said the payload would be the only thing operating between the Earth and the Moon during that timeframe. Lonestar has sold out its data storage capacity and has a waiting list for its next endeavor.

The State of Florida is a repeat customer, and five other governments are now utilizing the startup’s unique Data Recovery as a Service and Resiliency as a Service platform. Stott said he could not disclose those clients due to non-disclosure agreements.

His startup will also host data for multiple humanitarian groups, and its payload includes a copy of the space-based video game, “Starfield.” Pop-rock band Imagine Dragons performed the game’s theme song, “Children of the Sky,” which Lonestar will transmit from the Moon.

Austin-based Valkyrie, an artificial intelligence-focused applied science research and development company, will also hitch a ride to the lunar surface with Lonestar. The company’s knowledge graphs can quickly sift through and retrieve files held in the data center.

Stott said the nascent technology can complete searches “10,000 times faster” than traditional methods. Valkyrie’s customers range from the Department of Defense to the United Way.

The Freedom mission’s overarching goal is to prove that Earth’s largest satellite can efficiently house the world’s information away from natural and human threats. People create about 2.5 million bytes of new data daily, and the amount doubles biannually.

Storing and processing increasingly vast amounts of digital information strains natural resources. However, space provides a limitless supply of solar energy and will naturally cool the data center’s solid-state drives.

“There’s conflicts wherever humans go,” Stott said. “There is incredible cooperation in space because people go up and they have that overview effect. Space takes us as a species and an economy from scarcity to abundance.

“The dinosaurs became extinct because they didn’t have a space program. We do.”

James Burns-Montante, chief engineer for Lonestar Lunar, at mission control inside of St. Petersburg’s Maritime and Defense Technology Hub. Photo provided.

While Stott believes space can help solve most of Earth’s problems, he remains focused on safeguarding the world’s data. He said Lonestar has completed all its tests and simulations, and the mission’s fate is now in the hands of SpaceX and Intuitive Machines.

“If something goes wrong, the next time we talk I’ll be asking you if you want fries with that,” Stott joked. “But that’s the nature of risk, and why we’re a startup.”

The data center will power down after two weeks on the Moon. Stott believes someone will eventually house the equipment, rated to survive the harsh environment for a millennium, in a lunar museum.

Lonestar operates from the Maritime and Defense Technology Hub in St. Petersburg’s Innovation District. Stott frequently credits the city’s support for the startup’s success.

He believes Lonestar can establish a new global industry in the area. The company will back up client data at storage firm Flexential’s Tampa facility.

Stott believes St. Pete will become known as “the birthplace of this confluence of data and space.” He said the city has “the perfect recipe for entrepreneurship.”

“This is where the energy is,” Stott added. “It’s that weird alchemy … I don’t know what it is – it’s like this idea of punk meets Gulf Coast meets tech and entrepreneurship.”

To watch NASA’s live stream of the launch, visit the website here.