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WISeKey integrates satellite blockchain
Its goal is to revolutionize the satellite industry by improving logistics, insurance, regulatory compliance and data security.
Photo by WISeKey CEO Carlos Moreira
July 4, 2024 – A world leading cybersecurity company, WISeKeyannounced Tuesday its plan to integrate blockchain technology into space, aiming to revolutionize the satellite industry by improving logistics, insurance, regulatory compliance and data security.
Blockchain technology enables distributed recording of transactions across multiple computers through an advanced database mechanism that stores data in blocks linked together in a chain, ensuring data security, transparency and permanence throughout the process.
Using Blockchain TechnologyDigital databases can track and share data across networks more efficiently and accurately.
WISeKey plans to test blockchain technology with its new WISeSat satellite, intended to be launched with SpaceX from Vandenberg Space Center in October.
By leveraging blockchain in space, WISeSat aims to improve the reliability and accessibility of satellite operations, he said. This includes automating processes for launching and operating satellites, reducing the need for intermediaries, and minimizing human errors, resulting in more efficient and cost-effective operations.
Blockchain Nodesthat run the protocol software of a decentralized network, will be added to the blockchain. This integration should improve cybersecurity, create a more distributed and resilient network, reduce the risk of failures, and lower energy costs, since traditional data centers consume a lot of electricity for processing and cooling.
According to WISeKey, blockchain transparency and traceability can benefit government satellite functions by reducing human error and providing tamper-proof records for oversight.
Experts suggest that blockchain technology can accelerate economic activity. Jerry Cuomo, IBM Vice President of Blockchain Technologies at Tech Forward, He explained that each blockchain has multiple administrators who must review each transaction before it is recorded in the digital “ledger.” Once recorded, transactions are nearly impossible to alter or delete. Each data point, or “block,” in the blockchain is heavily encrypted, ensuring high levels of security and user trust.
While blockchain is most commonly associated with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Cuomo said it has a wide range of applications, including identity verification, food safety, and supply chain communication. For example, instead of creating hundreds of accounts on various websites, a user could soon have a single blockchain-based identity that is accessible whenever verification is needed.
As for when blockchain technologies will become mainstream in the economy, Cuomo said he believes it will be “within a decade.”
In January 2023, a group of experts further stated that blockchain technologies can ensure that consumers maintain control over their data. “Giving [users] that choice… to choose a place that is built and verifiably built to be safe, to be private, to be a place that fits their values, that can actually make things better for users,” he said Dr. Kurt Opsahlgeneral counsel at the Electronic Frontier Foundation.