While Bitcoin might not be available for the moon yet, its underlying technology, blockchain, is increasingly embraced in space.

The ESA (European Space Agency), a prominent intergovernmental organization devoted to space research, is financing a new blockchain project striving to develop the world’s mining industry.

The ESA, a well-known contributor to blockchain technology applications, has recently co-founded a collective project with Scottish startup ‘Hypervine’ to develop data transparency for the mining industry by connecting blockchain and satellite data. The news was revealed by oil and gas-oriented publication Oil & Gas Middle East.

Preventing potentially fatal accidents in mining work

The project has the grand purpose of restricting potentially catastrophic or lethal accidents and miscalculations in the mining industry by implementing an immutable and unified database of mining data. 

The project is based on ‘Hypervine’s technology,’ which facilitates mining teams and their subsidiaries to insert data on an unalterable ledger, excluding the risk of the smallest data modifications being overstated down a chain.

Precisely, the project intends to record satellite-sourced data on a distributed ledger to offer a coordinated and trusted source of data to mining firms, substituting paper-based sources that require to be cross-checked by various teams in diverse locations. As mining businesses may waste months to achieve the correct data from often-fragmented sources, the blockchain-based satellite database project is also outlined to lower the costs of the mining industry.

Positive environmental projection

Ultimately, aside from decreasing human error and potential risks and promoting accuracy, the ESA-supported project will also undoubtedly affect environmental conditions by reducing carbon ejections powered by operational facilities.

A technical officer at ESA Space Solutions, Beatrice Barresi, described that the utility of satellite-based information for mining is witnessing increasing investment while improving such initiatives with technologies similar to blockchain are expected to provide bigger commercial outcomes. Barresi proceeded:

“It is a core goal of ours to make industries such as quarrying safer, cleaner, and more accountable. Working with companies such as Hypervine allows us to achieve these goals while improving the standards across multiple industries. It has been great working with Hypervine on this project, and we look forward to the next phases to come.”

The ESA has been actively examining the blockchain industry adjacent to space research. The agency granted blockchain startup SpaceChain approximately $66,000 to commercially produce a multi-signature satellite wallet, in September 2019. Previously, the ESA published a white paper on a potential future roadmap for blockchain implementation for Earth observation.