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YEAR IN REVIEW Open and Neutral Blockchain Decentralised Technology for the New Space Economy
YEAR IN REVIEW
Open and Neutral Blockchain Decentralised Technology for the
New Space Economy
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Founders' Letter 3
Advisory Board 6
Highlights of 2019 7
Technical Development 8
Research and Development 14
Partnership and Collaboration 15
Special Activities 17
The SpaceChain Foundation Team 18
Media 19
CONTENT
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This has been a year of growth and consolidation for the SpaceChain Foundation, and we are very proud of what we have achieved as a team in 2019. Back when we started only a handful of companies were considering working at the intersection of space and blockchain technology. But as of 2019, SpaceChain Foundation remains actively and successfully progressing in this area, having three launches under its belt and a number of valuable partnerships forged.
FOUNDERS’ LETTER
2019 has been an exciting year for SpaceChain Foundation. Here are some of our top achievements:
• Successfully launched our payload aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket bound for installation on the International Space Station. Our technology will route multisignature blockchain transactions to and from the space station, vastly increasing the cybersecurity of those transactions.
• At the end of 2018, we had set up operations in the United Kingdom. Within a year, we have established a strong presence in the European space ecosystem, hosted a blockchain workshop with Satellite Application Catapult, and have established partnerships with many companies servicing the European space market.
When the rocket cleared the launch tower and was fast on its way to the International Space Station carrying our blockchain wallet hardware technology, I felt an immense sense of relief and pride. I am extremely thankful for my team’s hard work and dedication, and our partners and community’s support in making this step in creating the New Space Economy possible.”
- Zee Zheng, Co-founder & CEO
On December 5, 2019, at NASA Kennedy Space Center, I stood transfixed as I listened to the countdown. When we started SpaceChain Foundation in 2017,
We never thought we would accomplish so much, so fast. As the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket ignited, I secretly prayed that nothing would go wrong, that all the hard work the team had put in did not get erased in an instant.
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• Under the European Space Agency's Kick-start Activity program, SpaceChain UK was awarded funding to further develop and identify commercial use cases for our satellite blockchain technology.
• Our team has grown to 25 people located in 5 different countries, greatly expanding our capabilities.
• We participated in many key industry conferences such as Milken Institute Asia Summit, SpaceTide, ESA Observation Week, Voice of Blockchain, APSCC Satellite Conference and Exhibition, Space Forum and others.
• Our 2019 accomplishment received coverage on CoinDesk, Cointelegraph, Financial Times, GeekWire, Via Satellite, SpaceTech Asia, Fox Business and more.
As one of the pioneers in this field, we are fostering partnerships and working groups with a large number of thought leaders and companies to explore and realise the great potential of space and blockchain.
Many of the major national space agencies have supported and accepted the work of the SpaceChain Foundation, something that we are immensely proud of as it validates our standing as a global space company. Specifically, we are either actively working on contracts for, have launched with or are in discussions with:
CONTINUED
• European Space Agency (ESA)
• National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
• Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)
• Singapore Space and Technology Association (SSTA)
• Aerospace Committee of the Ministry of Defense and the Aerospace Industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan (KAZCOSMOS)
• United Kingdom Space Agency (UK Space Agency)
SpaceChain Foundation continues to work towards realising its mission to democratise access to space, because space should not be for the privileged few but a human right. In line with this, the past year has seen concrete steps towards executing a Decentralised Satellite Infrastructure (DSI).
There are many space companies rushing to grow their own proprietary constellations, and only very few corporations with deep enough pockets and strategically built vertical integrations are succeeding; however, we believe this is not a desirable or a sustainable way forward.
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SpaceChain Foundation is facilitating the development of open-source standards for hardware, software, and communication protocols for low earth orbit (LEO) satellites. Utilising these protocols, we would like to empower people to build a multi-vendor, multi-jurisdiction, Decentralised Satellite Infrastructure. This model makes more economic sense and is much more efficient, especially for the smaller satellite companies and startups. In 2019, we have defined the action plan to engage all the partners needed to make this happen. This means that we now have identified the working groups, their remit and the desired partners for each, as well as confirmed a number of existing collaborators for each one of them.
We are now working on a new Whitepaper that will include both technical and governance aspects of the Decentralised Satellite Infrastructure.This will include discussing standards for all the governance, regulatory and legal aspects of sharing a distributed mesh network using blockchain technology.
Empowered by blockchain technology, we are building a very dynamic environment for space companies around the world to collaborate. SpaceChain Foundation continues to push forward towards its goal of open-source standards for hardware, software, and communication protocols, furthering our mission of building an open and neutral infrastructure for the New Space Economy, together.
CONTINUED
Zee Zheng CO-FOUNDER AND
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Jeff Garzik CO-FOUNDER AND
CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER
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Tim DraperA renowned venture capitalist from Silicon Valley, Tim Draper is the co-founder of DFJ Venture Capital and founder of Draper University. He has invested in numerous companies, including SpaceX, Tesla, and Thumbtack.
Matthew RoszakA blockchain investor, entrepreneur, and advocate, Matthew Roszak is a sought-after thought leader on blockchain technology and has testified before the U.S. Congress and spoken at the Brookings Institution. He is the co-founder and chairman of Bloq, as well as the founding partner of Tally Capital.
Jeffrey ManberAs the CEO of NanoRacks, Jeffrey Manber has steered the growth of the first company to own and market its own hardware and services on board the ISS. One of the pioneering commercial space entrepreneurs, he was also involved in several key breakthrough commercial space projects.
Don Tapscott Don Tapscott is ranked the 2nd most influential management thinker in the world by Thinkers50. He has been advancing groundbreaking concepts for over three decades. In 2017, Don and Alex co-founded the Blockchain Research Institute, whose 70+ projects are the definitive investigation into blockchain strategy, use-cases, implementation challenges, and organizational transformations.
Eric AndersonEric Anderson is a well-known aerospace engineer and entrepreneur who pioneered the development of the space tourism industry. Anderson co-founded several organizations, including Planetary Resources, and Space Adventures, the only company to have provided commercial human spaceflight missions to the ISS.
ADVISORY BOARD
HIGHLIGHTS OF 2019
Performed the first space-based transaction on the Qtum blockchain
Opened operations in the United Kingdom at Harwell, Oxfordshire
Awarded a grant from the European Space Agency
Created the first Bitcoin wallet hardened for use in space
Launched 3rd payload aboard a SpaceX rocket bound for the International Space Station
JAN ‘19
APR ‘19
SEP ‘19
OCT ‘19
DEC ‘19
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Multisignature Transaction Authentication in Space
It has been a challenging but fruitful year for SpaceChain Foundation. In line with our mission of building an open and neutral infrastructure for the New Space Economy by integrating blockchain and space technologies, our technical team has been continuously developing and upgrading our hardware and operating system. Both our hardware and software have been proven to run blockchain related applications smoothly and effectively in the harsh environment of space.
On December 5, 2019, we successfully launched our third payload aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket as part of the CRS-19 commercial resupply service mission to the International Space Station (ISS). Made possible by a grant from the European Space Agency (ESA) and in partnership with Nanoracks and its Space Act Agreement with NASA, we were able to install and test our multisignature technology on the ISS.
Cryptocurrencies are generally secured with a single private key, which implies that one person will be able to access the funds without authorisation from anybody else. This method is only as secure as the method for keeping that single private key safe. For cryptocurrency businesses and high networth individuals greater security is essential, that’s where multisignature transactions become useful. Multisignature is a digital asset security feature that gives several users access to a single wallet and requires a certain number of those users to validate transactions. So two or more keys are required to send a transaction.
The ISS Payload
With our multisignature technology a user must create and sign the transaction with their private key, the transaction is then sent privately through a secure ground station to the multisignature infrastructure in orbit which also signs the transaction, sending it back down to the ground station and out to the blockchain network. Our multisignature technology stays in low earth orbit, safe from physical attack, and is only communicated with via secure satellite transmission, thus making each transaction vastly more secure from cyberattacks. SpaceChain Foundation is enabling new levels of cybersecurity with the world’s first space-based multisignature authentication service, allowing users to put part of their transaction validation in orbit.
TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENT
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SpaceChain Foundation’s Multisignature Process
Spacechain Engineer Wallet App
Spacechain’s alternative contact
Spacechain’s Public key
Satellite Public key
Transaction files
2. Generate a multis wallet
OTP
Encrypted transaction files
3. Initiate a multisig
transaction
4. Upload the encrypted files to
corporate use server
Corporate user (spacechain)
server
SPC server
5. Transfer the encrypted files to
SPC server
Nanoracks server
6. Transfer the encrypted files to Nanoracks server
7,Transfer the encrypted files to naroracks ground
station
Nanoracks ground station
Internation space station
8. Upload the encrypted files to internation Space
Station
Decrypted transaction files
9. Decrypted the transactions files
Encrypted transaction files
10. Add a second signature by the
ISS payload
11. Encrypt the transaction files
12. Transfer the encrypted files
back to nano racks ground station
Nanoracks ground station
Nanoracks server
SPC serverDecrypted transaction files
Corporate user (spacechain)
server
13. Transfer the encrypted files back
to Nanorackks server
15. Decrypt the transaction files
14. Transfer the encrypted files
back to SPC server
16. Transfer the files to corporate
user
17. Broadcast the transaction ti blockchain network and complete the transaction
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Space node verification mechanism
Compared to our last two payloads focusing on multisignature QTUM transactions, we have optimised our third payload in following ways:
We added an extra verification mechanism between the SpaceChain server and the ISS space node. As such, the security of the transaction files is greatly enhanced when they are transmitted from the SPC server to the ISS ground station and subsequently to the ISS space node.
We have added a point-to-point transaction data encryption mechanism to further enhance the security. Once the transaction files are encrypted by the users, these files can only be decrypted by the ISS payload. As such, the security of the transaction data itself is guaranteed in transit.
Encryption of transaction data
Compared to our past two payloads which could only process one transaction per transmission, the ISS payload is able to process a maximum number of 100 transactions per transmission.
Multi-transactions processing
Upgrades
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Over the past decade we have witnessed a paradigm shift in the commercialisation of space with a vast array of companies entering the space industry. It is now possible to find service providers for every stage of a space mission, from chip designers and microsatellite vendors to launch providers and ground stations services. Companies from all over the globe are now ready to service space missions. However, the way each mission is designed and executed has not seen the same transformation. Most missions are still single vendor, single purpose, and not networked to other spacecraft, resulting in an inefficient allocation of resources. To get to the next stage of the space industry spacecraft need to have the ability to network together to create collaborative satellite constellations, but there are some technical challenges.
• A platform-based environment needs to be constructed with trust among various participating parties.
• Communication among satellites needs to follow a unified standard to enable a flexible and efficient information routing.
SpaceChain Foundation aims to target these challenges, building an alliance consortium towards the creation of a Decentralised Satellite Infrastructure (DSI), a mesh-network of heterogeneous spacecraft owned and operated in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) by multiple parties in multiple jurisdictions. Spacecraft may join or depart the constellation at any time via a blockchain registry, as long as the crafts meet minimal economic, technical and regulatory requirements sufficient to ensure the long term health and resilience of the constellation.
Decentralised satellite infrastructure
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Blockchain Registry of DSIBlockchain technology supports the backbone of the DSI architecture via a Blockchain Registry. During the registry phase, a satellite would certify that it met the minimum operational standards to be added to the network. Once approved the satellite would be assigned a private key and the ability to route and allocate DSI assignments via a smart-contract based blockchain bidding environment, ensuring transparency and trust.
With DSI, participating satellites will be able to support secure information transmission between distant parties, served as relays via a new Optical Link routing protocol. The routing protocol development focuses on how relay nodes are chosen for efficient information transmission between two distant satellites, as well as how a robust relay network could be established for the entire DSI network.
Current inter-satellite communication is based mostly on RF signals. RF transmission requires a simple hardware setup but offers slow data transmission rates. Optical links, on the other hand, provide high communication speed but also require complicated hardware including source APT (acquisition, pointing and tracking) systems and detection modules. However, for long distance communication in space, optical links have outstanding performance compared with RF, making it a necessary component for future development of satellite technology. Thus, we aim to develop an effective optical inter-satellite link model which is easy for adaptation to a traditional satellite company.
Satellite Mesh-network Routing
SpaceChain Foundation will collaborate with partners and manufacturers to enable satellites to participate in DSI freely by developing standards related to:
• Processing power: Minimum processing requirements will be applied to the participating satellites to enable activities under the Blockchain registry, smart contract ‘bidding’, mesh-network support and routing protocol for the DSI.
• Data storage and encryption: Minimum storage capacity will be established for storing and synchronising DSI assignments, as well as uniform encryption standards.
• Optical link bandwidth and APT systems: Minimum bandwidth for optical links and minimum hardware for APT systems will be established to maintain robust connectivity and throughput.
To enable high-speed communication, DSI would introduce optical communication links between participating satellites in addition to traditional RF communication, supported by an acquisition, pointing and tracking (APT) system. Mesh-network and routing protocols would support valid communication between satellites with RF and optical links via certain relay nodes.
Hardware and Software Standards
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Collaboration with Geosynchronous Satellites and Deep Space ResearchInteroperability with geosynchronous satellites (GEO) as well as external constellations is one of the core development focuses for DSI. Although the majority of DSI satellites will be participating members of the LEO mesh-network, connections with GEO satellites and other unaffiliated external constellations would make a more robust network, as well as providing a relay for spacecraft operating in High Earth orbit or deep space.
With improved communication speed among various nodes, DSI satellites could serve as receivers for information transmitted back from satellites in deep space. A potential collaboration could be established by sending deep space exploration satellites with optical communication modules, sending back information to DSI satellites or relay the information from other deep-space satellites received by its RF module.
In 2019, we developed our second-generation flight-tested ZYNQ development board (IPC-A-610 Class 3). The new board can support dual operating systems: Linux OS and SpaceChain OS. Our development board is flight-proven space grade FPGAs, a dual ARM Cortex processor with redundancy, gigabyte ECC memory, and EMI shielding.
SpaceChain OS and Flight-proven Space Grade Hardware
In 2018, we developed our open source embedded real-time operating system (SpaceChain OS). In a continuous effort to make our SpaceChain OS available to anyone, anywhere in the world, we have released all the related source code and relevant development files on GitHub.
Apart from the flight-tested ZYNQ development board, we have further developed our low cost demo board, used for developing applications compatible with our latest hardware. The demo board is equipped with 256 MB DDR3 and a portable 32GB SD that can be used as a system hard disk.
Fig.1: Second-generation flight-tested ZYNQ development board
Fig.2: Demo board that is suitable for blockchain and aerospace applications
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E-commerce platform for GEO dataMore businesses are turning to Earth observation and other forms of satellite data to make their decisions. However, finding and purchasing this data remains a time consuming and cumbersome task for businesses. SpaceChain Foundation is researching innovative ways in which blockchain technology and distributed ledgers can support the creation of data marketplaces for satellite data.
GEO data acquisition to AIArtificial Intelligence (AI) continues to be a tool that businesses in the space industry can use to gain efficiencies and develop a competitive edge over others. AI models, trained over time, become highly skilled at executing specific tasks. However, accessing AI models and relevant data sets remains a very manual process, something that is particularly cumbersome for EO large datasets with multiple layers of complexities when it comes to regulatory requirements for cross-border data sharing.
SpaceChain Foundation is researching the use of a decentralised architecture for purchasing AI models and data sets catering specifically to the space industry.
RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
Research Partners
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In early 2019, we launched The New Space Alliance, an initiative that brings together leading space and technology companies (including blockchain technology and AI) in a bid to encourage collaboration and increase participation in the development of a Decentralised Satellite Infrastructure.
The alliance fosters collaboration among various companies and organisations in the development of common communication protocols and standards for space hardware and software, and the utilisation of blockchain technology for new governance models for space infrastructure. A number of SpaceChain Foundation’s partners have joined the alliance and further members will be announced later this year.
Last year also saw the SpaceChain Foundation team join a number of working groups and international organisations, crystallising its position as a thought leader in technological innovation for the space industry. We joined the highly prestigious International Astronautical Federation (IAF) and were invited to introduce our technologies to its members during the 70th annual International Astronautical Congress in Washington DC.
We also attended the Interagency Operations Advisory Group (IOAG) meeting at Goonhilly Earth Station in the UK in September 2019. The IOAG is an annual forum for identifying common needs across multiple national space agencies for coordinating space communications policy, high-level procedures, technical interfaces, and other matters related to interoperability and space communications. At the IOAG, the team presented a plan to build Decentralised Satellite Infrastructure, which was well received by attendees.
The team attended a number of space and blockchain technology conferences throughout the year, as speakers, panelists and attendees. These included the Recent Advances in Space Technology conference in Istanbul, the UK Space Conference in Wales, the PocketQube satellite workshop in Glasgow, China Space Day in Changsha, and the World Internet Conference in Wuzhen. Notable mentions are the SpaceTide in Japan in July, Milken Institute Asia Summit in Singapore in September, and APSCC Satellite Conference and Exhibition in Thailand in November.
International Astronautical Congress Spacetide 2019
PARTNERSHIP & COLLABORATION
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As of 2019, SpaceChain Foundation branched out to the UK with its Research & Development team based at the Satellite Applications Catapult at the Harwell space cluster near Oxford. The Harwell space cluster is the gateway to the UK space sector with 92 space organisations. This gives the SpaceChain Foundation the perfect platform to build strong partnerships with leading space industry companies in a range of areas, both upstream and downstream, including space hardware, communications, satellites, software, launch, and data.
For example, the European Centre for Space Applications and Telecommunications, a research centre belonging to the European Space Agency, is also located at the Harwell campus. The SpaceChain Foundation’s research and development team has been able to utilise the proximity to ECSAT to learn more about the range of ESA funding opportunities and space missions open to UK space companies.
In alignment with its overall strategy for partnership development for research and development, SpaceChain Foundation is allocating considerable resources to the exploration of a number of research grants with industry leaders and established academic partners. Due to these efforts, in September 2019, we were awarded a European Space Agency grant under its Kickstart programme, and tasked to build a multisignature crypto wallet technology that leverages satellite infrastructure.
This will be part of a long-term plan to demonstrate the feasibility of its technology and test it as a fully developed use case for the Decentralised Satellite Infrastructure. SpaceChain Foundation's third payload launch to the International Space Station with Nanoracks in December 2019 was designed to test out space-based multisignature wallet technology.
One of the most important partnerships developed during 2019 was with the aerospace company Deimos Space UK. Deimos Space UK specialises in flight systems, ground segment systems, space situational awareness, satellite navigation, applications and services. SpaceChain Foundation will assist Deimos Space UK in developing blockchain solutions for Earth Observation (EO) data. This partnership with Deimos Space UK led to another European Space Agency grant, alongside Deimos Space UK, centred on building an E-commerce platform for EO data. This platform will address a need within the EO data industry for a technology solution to prove the integrity of remote sensing images and assist in creating a more efficient market for such data. The ESA funded E-commerce platform for EO data will look to address these issues.
SpaceChain Foundation is building strong partnerships with other space companies worldwide such as D-Orbit, Open Cosmos, Exobotics, Modularity Space, and NanoAvionics. A notable example is the partnership with Exobotics, a Cambridge based company building a lunar rover, who will join one of the Decentralised Satellite Infrastructure working group.
SpaceChain Foundation continues to build a robust ecosystem of partners and collaborators across the globe, bringing us closer to realising the dream of a New Space Economy.
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SPECIAL ACTIVITIESSpaceChain Foundation was proud to be accepted into the 2019/20 Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) program. Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) is a nonprofit organization that delivers an objectives-based program for massively scalable, seed-stage, science- and technology-based companies. The nine-month program employs an objectives-based mentoring process to enhance the performance of technical founders who learn from the insights of experienced entrepreneurs, with the goal of maximising equity-value creation.
It was an honour to be selected for this program. Although it was intensive, each session was fruitful as we met with CDL fellows and associates who provided valuable advice and insightful feedback to help us meet our goals. We were in the space stream where we met with astronauts, entrepreneurs, investors, and scientists from fields related to space exploration and transportation, satellite communications, Earth observation, automation and robotics.
For each session, we received a customised full-day schedule that involved one-on-one meetings with mentors, group discussions and interviews with MBA students to provide business development support. We have completed four sessions with three amazing mentors who have committed to spending four hours to mentor us over seven weeks between CDL sessions. These mentors have helped us sharpen our objectives relating to technology validation, gave us tips on how to raise capital, and fine-tuned our strategies.
Image Credits: CDL
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THE SPACECHAIN FOUNDATION TEAM
Zee Zheng CEO
Jeff Garzik CTO
Nick Trudgen BUSINESS
DEVELOPMENT & PARTNERSHIPS
Nicolette Ong PROJECT M AN AGER
Alec Ho M ARKETING
Liu Yang TECHNOLOGY
James Vickers TECHNOLOGY
Ziheng Xiang RESEARCH &
DEVELOPMENT
Xiuze Wang RESEARCH &
DEVELOPMENT
Shaohong Zhong RESEARCH &
DEVELOPMENT
The team of engineers is made of best in class, working from multiple locations globally, and skilled with the interdisciplinary subjects needed to create, maintain and grow a decentralised space infrastructure. These include aerospace, electronic, mechanical, telecommunication engineers and software developers specialising in blockchain development.
Team specialities
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MEDIA
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