SpaceChain today introduced SpaceChain Callisto – its first open-source demo hardware board designed for developing blockchain applications that can be used and deployed in space. SpaceChain Callisto is pre-installed with and runs on Linux and SpaceChain Operating System (SPC OS), to help accelerate space technology development, and serves as the backbone for SpaceChain’s payload launches and missions.
SpaceChain Callisto enables developer communities worldwide to participate in building out next-generation decentralized infrastructures for blockchain and fintech applications using space technologies. More importantly, it signifies a strategic step forward towards democratizing the space industry and fostering the commercialization of outer space.
The Callisto is configured in a way similar to the on-orbit payload currently installed in the International Space Station. Developers will have the chance to create game-changing applications that can potentially leverage blockchain-related functions, including running smart contracts and performing multi-signature transactions, and running tests through their computers to determine whether the applications they created would work in space ultimately.
“The world is entering an age of software-defined satellites that can be configured to perform different tasks by simply uploading an application or program, much akin to a mobile phone,” said Zee Zheng, SpaceChain co-founder and CEO. “By opening up access to space and satellite technologies through increasing the number of players and contributors, more opportunities for collaborative work can be created and lead to new businesses and socio-economic models that were once impossible.”
SpaceChain’s co-founder and CTO Jeff Garzik executed the first multisignature blockchain transaction in space in August 2020. Less than a year later, SpaceChain is yet another step closer to removing barriers and allowing a global community to access and collaborate in space, all while remaining secure and immutable through proven blockchain cryptography.
“We named our product – Callisto – after the second largest moon or natural satellite of Jupiter, to represent how a mass that is millions of kilometers from Earth can be held within our grasp,” said Jeff Garzik, SpaceChain co-founder and CTO. “SpaceChain’s open-source demo hardware board is proof of our efforts to bring our disruptive technology to the masses as we continue to discover more commercial use cases for blockchain-based satellite networks in space. We are one step closer to making the SpaceChain OS available to anyone, anywhere in the world.”