Flexential Links Up with Lonestar to Support First Commercial Space Data Center

Written by Copernical Team Thursday, 23 January 2025 09:11

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Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jan 22, 2025

Flexential, a prominent provider of secure and adaptive data center solutions, has joined forces with Lonestar Data Holdings Inc. (Lonestar), a leading innovator in lunar infrastructure and Resiliency as a Service (RaaS). This collaboration supports the launch of Freedom, Lonestar's second data center on the Moon, which will be deployed via a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket by Intuitive Machines. This ef

Flexential Links Up with Lonestar to Support First Commercial Space Data Center
by Clarence Oxford
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jan 22, 2025

Flexential, a prominent provider of secure and adaptive data center solutions, has joined forces with Lonestar Data Holdings Inc. (Lonestar), a leading innovator in lunar infrastructure and Resiliency as a Service (RaaS). This collaboration supports the launch of Freedom, Lonestar's second data center on the Moon, which will be deployed via a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket by Intuitive Machines. This effort marks a significant milestone toward Lonestar's vision of establishing a full-scale lunar data center.

Flexential will provide critical colocation, interconnection, and professional services to support Lonestar's mission control operations. Additionally, the Tampa data center will deliver enhanced backup and disaster recovery solutions. Tampa's proximity to Florida's Space Coast ensures low-latency connectivity essential for mission-critical tasks. This facility is part of Flexential's FlexAnywhere Platform, which comprises over 40 data centers across the U.S., including two in Tampa and four in Florida.

The satellite launch is set against a backdrop of growing demand for data storage capacity. McKinsey and Company projects U.S. power consumption for data centers will surge from 17 GW in 2022 to 35 GW by 2030. Space-based solutions offer an innovative pathway to meet this demand while conserving terrestrial resources and enhancing infrastructure resiliency and reliability.

Governments and enterprises are increasingly exploring space-based data centers as a safeguard against large-scale disasters-earthquakes, hurricanes, wildfires, floods, warfare, and terrorism-that threaten terrestrial facilities. "Flexential's partnership with Lonestar represents our commitment to advancing data center capabilities beyond conventional boundaries," said Jason Carolan, Chief Innovation Officer at Flexential. "By supporting Lonestar's space-based data center initiative, we are helping to create new possibilities for data storage and disaster recovery. This project demonstrates how innovative data center expertise can help organizations prepare for a resilient future with off-world storage solutions."

The orbital Freedom data center is designed to deliver resiliency, disaster recovery, and edge processing services for global government and enterprise clients. Solar-powered and naturally cooled, it incorporates Solid-State Drives (SSDs) and a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) edge processor for optimal performance. Importantly, the facility complies with data sovereignty regulations, as space-based assets fall under international space law and maintain jurisdictional ties to their launch state. This feature provides distinct advantages for government agencies managing recovery scenarios.

"Teamwork is everything. As we work to establish this next commercial data center on the Moon, testing it enroute in Cislunar space, being able to work with key terrestrial industry partners like Flexential is of critical importance to our customers as we all grow our offering," said Chris Stott, Founder and CEO of Lonestar. "Flexential's expertise in critical infrastructure management aligns perfectly with our goals for secure, off-planet data storage, and its Tampa facility will be instrumental as we work to create new possibilities for data storage and disaster recovery beyond Earth."

All capacity on Lonestar's Freedom data center has been allocated for the upcoming launch. This pivotal step moves Lonestar closer to realizing a resilient network of space-based data centers capable of preserving and protecting essential information.