Sidus Space said that it would move forward with a plan to design and build six data storage satellites for Lonestar.
The $120 million preliminary agreement builds on a November announcement that the two companies would work together on the spacecraft.
Satellite designer Sidus will manage the design, payload integration, planning, and on-orbit support for the LizzieSat satellites.
“This contract represents a pivotal step forward in our partnership with Lonestar, demonstrating our ability to scale the LizzieSat platform to meet diverse and mission-critical needs, including lunar missions,” said Carol Craig, CEO of Sidus Space.
“It also highlights our role as an innovative mission collaborator, delivering cost-effective solutions built on Sidus’ demonstrated space expertise. We are proud to support Lonestar and their mission to provide advanced secure data storage solutions that enable organizations to safeguard vital information beyond Earth’s bounds.”
Lonestar, which eventually hopes to field a fleet of storage-focused data centers on the Moon, has carried out three off-Earth tests.
The company trialed its software on the International Space Station, followed by a software test on Intuitive Machines' lunar lander mission IM-1.
It then put hardware on the IM-2 mission, successfully testing its storage solution several times on the way to the Moon. However, just like with IM-1, the lander fell on its side and quickly died. Lonestar successfully tested sending data to the lunar surface, and managed to get telemetry back, but power was then lost.
The journey is profiled in the cover feature of the latest issue of the DCD Magazine - with the feature itself ferried to the lunar surface.
By relying on satellites instead of the lunar surface, Lonestar hopes to avoid the challenges of landing - and the need to piggyback on broader landing missions. However, long term, it still aims to go back to the Moon.
“Following the success of our recent test flights, this partnership with Sidus Space marks a significant milestone in our journey to revolutionize data storage and disaster recovery in space,” said Chris Stott, founder and CEO of Lonestar.
“Sidus’ proven expertise, innovative approach, and scalable satellite solutions are key to achieving our vision of delivering resilient, secure data storage capabilities on the Moon.”
