Freedom (Lonestar data storage payload)¶
IM-2 · landed · commercial payload
A small 'lunar data center': an 8 TB solid-state drive and a Microchip PolarFire SoC FPGA in a 3D-printed shell, mounted on the lander. It stored customer data (the State of Florida among others) and ran edge-processing jobs, to test data backup and disaster recovery from space. It also carried the ARMAS radiation sensor (separate record).
PI: not in public sources (CEO Chris Stott speaks for the payload)
Built by: Lonestar Data Holdings (St. Petersburg, Florida); built by its contractor SpaceBlt (formerly Skycorp), with Phison storage and a shell designed by the architects BIG (company)
| Technology | data storage and edge processing (commercial hardware) |
| Moon Base need | none named (No Moon Base need fits, on the study's reading, as for Lonestar's IM-1 test. Freedom's purpose is data backup for customers on Earth. The Users Guide has no group for data systems. ARMAS, which flew inside Freedom, has its own record and its own need.) |
| Route onto CLPS | commercial; Lonestar bought space from Intuitive Machines; no NASA selection. The IM-2 hardware payload was announced with the IM-1 software test on 19 April 2022. Lonestar says the capacity was sold out to its own customers.; 2022-04-19 |
| Timeline | first funding 2021 (Lonestar founded; private funding); first flight test 2021-12-17 (software test on the ISS); selected 2022-04-19 (IM-2 hardware payload announced); launch 2025-02-26; landing 2025-03-06 |
| On the Moon | partly operated |
| FO | none |
Flights before the Moon¶
- ISS or MISSE: International Space Station: Redwire's existing server, retasked by software (with Canonical), 2021-12-17. Lonestar's first software-defined data payload: storing data in space and sending results to Earth. Software only; not Freedom's hardware.
"The first software defined payload was sent to the ISS December 17th 2021."
— Lonestar brings the edge of the cloud to space via software-defined payload at the ISS
- earlier lunar mission: Intuitive Machines' IM-1 (Odysseus): Lonestar's Independence, a software-only payload on the lander's computers, 2024-02-22. Data storage and transfer to and from the Moon, in transit, in orbit and on the surface, by Lonestar's account. It cleared the way for Freedom; the hardware itself had not flown.
"Lonestar's first mission, featuring the Independence virtual data center payload, demonstrated unparalleled success in February 2024"
— Lonestar's Data Center is ready for the Moon: Intuitive Machines and Lonestar Complete Final Inst…"This success cleared the path for Lonestar's Freedom Payload mission"
— Lonestar's Data Center is ready for the Moon: Intuitive Machines and Lonestar Complete Final Inst…
Heritage hardware¶
- commercial components: Commercial storage (Phison SSD) and a Microchip PolarFire SoC FPGA, integrated by SpaceBlt. In April 2022 the payload had passed its Preliminary Design Review; the flight unit finished testing and integration on Athena in early 2025. No flight of the hardware before IM-2 is named.
"who said it has passed a Preliminary Design Review and is heading to Critical Design Review"
— Lonestar emerges from stealth with plans for lunar data centers - SpaceNews
Funding before the lunar flight¶
- Private investors (Scout Ventures, Seldor Capital, 2 Future Holding by 2022; a $5 million seed round in 2023). No NASA, SBIR or other federal development award to Lonestar found. (private; 2021-2025): amount not in public sources
"Lonestar has fully funded its IM-1 and IM-2-enabled demos with the backing of early-stage investors Scout Ventures, Seldor Capital and 2 Future Holding"
— Lonestar emerges from stealth with plans for lunar data centers - SpaceNews"Lonestar [raised $5 million in seed funding]"
— Lunar Data Centers Loom on the Near Horizon
How it got onto CLPS¶
"The Florida-based venture said its initial hardware is joining IM-2, Intuitive Machines’ second mission to the moon"
— Lonestar emerges from stealth with plans for lunar data centers - SpaceNews, SpaceNews, 19 Apr 2022"The capacity on Lonestar's upcoming mission is already sold out."
— Lonestar's Data Center is ready for the Moon: Intuitive Machines and Lonestar Complete Final Inst…
On the Moon¶
By Lonestar's account, Freedom ran its planned tests in transit and in lunar orbit: file uploads and downloads, encryption, edge processing for customers. It survived the sideways landing intact, but the planned surface tests were cut short when the lander lost power. These are company statements; no technical data is published.
"Lonestar’s data center payload successfully completed a series of critical commercial operational tests"
— Lunar Data Center Achieves Success, Lonestar release, 5 Mar 2025"Here Lonestar executed file uploads, downloads, data encryption, decryption, authentication, and in-space data manipulation for its customers."
— Lunar Data Center Achieves Success"On Friday, Lonestar confirmed the data center is intact despite the botched landing on the moon's surface."
— Lunar data center intact despite lunar lander's botched landing, St. Pete company says"But Lonestar achieved several testing milestones prior to the landing."
— Lunar Data Centers Loom on the Near Horizon
FO's role¶
Grade: none. No FO flight of Lonestar's or SpaceBlt's own technology. FO's tie is to a sensor inside Freedom: the FO-tested ARMAS radiation monitor from Space Environment Technologies, flown 'for SpaceBlt' (see im2-armas). That does not make Freedom FO-tested, and a host link is not 'related'.
"Also on board is an ARMAS Radiation sensor being flown for SpaceBlt built by Environmental Technologies."
— Lonestar's Data Center is ready for the Moon: Intuitive Machines and Lonestar Complete Final Inst…"the goal of the lightweight ARMAS sensor was to measure radiation both en route to the Moon and on the lunar surface as part of the Freedom payload from Lonestar Data Holdings"
— Flight-Tested Technologies for Safety in Space Head to the Moon
Who built it¶
"Athena is also carrying a payload known as Freedom, which was developed by Lonestar Data Holdings."
— Falcon 9 launches second lunar mission of 2025 with IM-2 lander - NASASpaceFlight.com"Freedom was built for Lonestar by its contractor, SpaceBlt (formerly Skycorp). The data center is equipped with storage from Phison."
— Lonestar's Data Center is ready for the Moon: Intuitive Machines and Lonestar Complete Final Inst…, Lonestar release, 10 Feb 2025"That mission, known as IM-2, will feature an 8TB SSD and a single Microchip PolaFire SoC FPGA."
— Lonestar Data tests data storage concept on lunar surface - DCD
Moon Base need¶
"Five ADD sub-architectures have no group:** Data Systems and Management"
— Moon to Mars knowledge base: What the architecture says the Moon Base needs
Open questions¶
- What did Freedom do on the surface before the lander lost power? Lonestar says only that it was intact; DCD's report of brief surface operations could not be saved (the site refused).
- What did Lonestar pay Intuitive Machines for the ride, and what did SpaceBlt's build cost? Not in public sources.
- Freedom's technical results (data volumes, error rates, radiation effects on the SSD): not published.