Blockchain Startup SpaceChain Sends Wallet Tech to International Space Station

Space-as-a-service-focused blockchain startup SpaceChain has sent its hardware wallet technology to the International Space Station.

As part of the CRS-19 commercial resupply service mission, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is delivering SpaceChain's hardware wallet technology to the ISS, according to a Dec. 6 press release.

The move purportedly marks the first tech demonstration of blockchain hardware on the ISS and the third blockchain payload by SpaceChain over the past two years.

Acceleration of space-as-a-service adoptionThe technology will then be installed on the commercial platform on Station provided by commercial utilization of space firm Nanoracks.

The initiative is set to demonstrate the receipt, authorization and retransmission of blockchain-based transactions, creating multi-signature transactions.

In an email to Cointelegraph, SpaceChain confirmed that it is expecting the payload to reach the ISS by Sunday, Dec. 8.

For the commercial development of its multi-sig wallet, SpaceChain received a 60,000 grant from the European Space Agency, in mid-September.

The company explained at the time, the solution is designed to bolster transaction security by requiring two of three private keys to sign and complete transactions.

In January, blockchain technology company Blockstream announced plans to launch the beta version of its Blockstream Satellite API, designed to help developers broadcast data via the company's satellite network.

Blockstream's Bitcoin space initiative reportedly aims to free the cryptocurrency's network from depending on land-based Internet connection and thus increase its robustness.