Lonestar and Phison have successfully launched the first-ever lunar data centre infrastructure aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The mission, set to land on the moon on March 4, is a joint venture to send Phison's Pascari solid-state drives (SSDs), packed with data from various clients, to the lunar surface. The companies plan to expand this infrastructure, with ambitions to scale up to a petabyte of storage in the coming years.

The idea of building a data centre on the moon originated in 2018, driven by the need for secure, off-Earth storage to safeguard against climate disasters and cyber-attacks. Lonestar's CEO, Chris Stott, noted that data has become as valuable as oil, if not more precious. The SSDs were rigorously tested for space readiness, ensuring their durability for long-term use without the possibility of on-site repairs.

This mission is just the beginning, as Lonestar and Phison aim to revolutionise data storage with nearly limitless capacity and energy efficiency in space. As AI-driven demand for data storage continues to rise, this lunar project could set the stage for future space-based infrastructure, promising a new era in data management.