One Small Step for Bitcoin - SpaceChain Secured Transfer From International Space Station
SpaceChain said the test advances its dreams of building a decentralized blockchain infrastructure in space.
Updated Sep 14, 2021 at 9:45 a.m. UTC
![SpaceChain's hardware wallet was installed on the International Space Station in late June. (NASA)](https://www.coindesk.com/resizer/MhRDd2giXtl8ui6g-tbgykFgtk0=/567x378/filters:quality(80):format(jpg)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/coindesk/LFRGTKOF2FHOHL3LRLM23ZXXV4.jpg)
SpaceChain, the U.K. crypto firm with extraterrestrial aspirations, secured a bitcoin transfer with its multi-signature transaction hardware orbiting Earth every 90 minutes.
- SpaceChain's International Space Station-hosted (ISS) hardware authorized a 0.0099 BTC (about $92 at the time) transfer initiated by Chief Technology Officer Jeff Garzik on June 26, the decentralization company disclosed Tuesday.
- Developed by GomSpace and installed on the ISS on June 25, that hardware holds a private key needed to verify blockchain transactions via the "multi-signature" technique.
- Data can only reach the ISS via the craft's encrypted ground station links. SpaceChain says this adds security and resilience to transaction authorizations.
- Representatives did not immediately answer CoinDesk's questions as to why a transaction initiated on June 26 was only made public nearly two months later.
- Although the ISS hardware cannot communicate with other crafts, SpaceChain hopes to build and launch robust decentralized blockchain infrastructure that can do so.