About

SpaceChain is building a blockchain-based satellite network and open-source operating system to run decentralized applications in space. A network of low earth orbit (LEO) micro-satellites running SpaceChain OS is integrated with Qtum and Ethereum (and in time other blockchains) to enable developers to build decentralized products and services away from centralized servers and entities on earth.

History

SpaceChain was founded in 2017 by Zee Zheng and Jeff Garzik with the mission to combine space and blockchain technologies to create a decentralized infrastructure for humanity to thrive in the coming space age. SpaceChain is developing a space-based public network infrastructure that does not involve military or government bodies as has traditionally been the case for space technologies to date. Most satellites are owned and operated by a single entity and blockchains on earth are often hosted on centralized servers - SpaceChain aims to build an infrastructure of satellites that enable anyone, anywhere to build decentralized applications that run free from centralization, in space.

The first SpaceChain blockchain node launched into orbit in February 2018 and comprised a Raspberry Pi hardware development board running a full-node on the Qtum blockchain. The following month, SpaceChain introduced a universal space operating system (OS) for space software development prepped for mainstream adoption. SpaceChain OS supports full blockchain nodes and allows developers to create open-source software for space applications.

In December 2019, SpaceChain sent a blockchain integrated satellite payload onto the International Space Station. This payload set the stage for the first multisignature blockchain transaction in space, which took place August 2020. In April 2021, SpaceChain released the Callisto, a Linux and SpaceChain OS based hardware board designed to develop blockchain apps to be deployed and used in space.