Developer Jeff Garzik plans to launch several tiny satellites into space which will serve as a node on the bitcoin network.
Historically, it has cost tens or hundreds of millions to launch satellites into space, but a new generation of privately-funded, bootstrapped satellite services has changed all that.
Garzik’s project involves building ‘cubesats’, which are standard, small-sized satellites, typically measuring 10cm on all sides. These satellites can be launched into space cheaply by piggybacking on other payloads.
Garzik estimates that it would cost just $2m to get one into orbit. Once in space, it would serve as an alternative way to distribute block chain data. “Information wants to be free,” Garzik said in his post about the project.
But can’t it be free on the ground? The Internet already does a pretty good job of letting around 5,000 bitcoin nodes distribute information. It was built to route itself around damage, and we rely heavily on it.
If the Internet ever failed, we’d presumably be too busy trading chickens to worry about whether we could confirm cryptocurrency transactions.
From Coindesk
