Here Is How Blockchain Will Help to Explore Space

More recently, with the emerging popularity of audacious startups like SpaceX, space exploration has become a less exclusive area.

Space giants like the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the European Space Agency are studying ways to employ blockchain for their mission.

"In this project, the Ethereum blockchain technology will be exploited to develop a decentralized, secure, and cognitive networking and computing infrastructure for deep space exploration. The blockchain consensus protocols will be further explored to improve the resilience of the infrastructure[] I hope to develop technology that can recognize environmental threats and avoid them, as well as complete a number of tasks automatically."

ESA. The European Space Agency - NASA's counterpart in the EU - has been studying blockchain as well, although they are more likely to use the technology to streamline internal administrative processes, not launch it to the deep space per se.

Smaller startups step in as space becomes more democratized.

Space is no longer exclusive to governments that have the means to constantly fuel their research programs with cash: With the arrival of low-cost satellites, blockchain can be launched into space, cutting ties with infrastructure that cannot be fully decentralized - as it's still plugged in with Facebook and Google fiber optic cables.

Essentially, it is based on the idea that, while space pioneers such as the U.S. and Russia are still important for space exploration, the cosmos is becoming more democratized, and now there are more opportunities available even for private players - essentially the same argument that backbones the concept of Space 4.0 mentioned above.

The startup's recently announced its "First decentralized space program" called Coral, which is lead by four former NASA employees.

The startup SpaceChain is less about space exploration and more about using the existing infrastructure to improve the blockchain experience, although outer space is also involved in this case.

Nexus is an Arizona-based startup that has announced the so-called "World's first three dimensional blockchain." Notably, the concept involves a satellite network that Nexus is developing in partnership with Vector Space Systems.