Lonestar Data Holdings has secured $5 million in seed funding to establish data centers on the moon, with a proof-of-concept data center set to be sent on Intuitive Machines’ second lunar mission.
The round was led by Scout Ventures, with participation from Seldor Capital, 2 Future Holding, The Veteran Fund, Irongate Capital, Atypical Ventures, and KittyHawk Ventures.
“We are thrilled to have completed this successful seed round and are sincerely grateful for the support and vision of our investors,” said Lonestar CEO Chris Stott in a press release.
St. Petersburg, Florida-based Lonestar is preparing to send a small data center to the moon later this year as part of the second lunar mission by Intuitive Machines.
Lonestar’s initial data center, which is as tiny as a hardback novel, will be followed by a series of larger data centers providing data storage and edge processing. One of the potential markets for Lonestar is disaster recovery as a service for customers on Earth.
“The moon is a fantastic platform for this,” said Stott. “There is no climate and access to renewable energy. You can build out amazing equipment up there.”
Scout Ventures Founder and Managing Partner Brad Harrison believes that data security and storage will be a crucial part of leading the new generation of lunar exploration.
“We believe that expanding the world’s economy to encompass the moon, which happens to be the Earth’s most stable satellite, is the next whitespace in the new space economy,” said Harrison.
While Lonestar is not focused on lunar exploration, it would not have been possible without the Artemis and CLPS programs.
“NASA has created an incredible marketplace for access to Earth’s largest satellite,” added Stott.
Lonestar also plans to offer data storage and processing for commercial, government, and academic lunar missions.
