Famed space agency NASA along with the University of Akron has started a research program based on Ethereum Blockchain technology to automate the maneuvers of spacecraft while avoiding space debris.
The idea behind the leveraging blockchain technology is to create safe and secure space communication for the deep space probes and indeed prove to be a milestone achievement in the history of Blockchain.
This research project known by the name ‘Resilient Networking and Computing Paradigm (RNCP)’ is led by Jin Wei Kocsis, assistant professor in electrical and computer engineering at the University of Akron. Also, a grant of total $330,000 for three years is received as a funding for conducting the experiment.
As published on University page by Kocsis,
“With this project, we will exploit (the power of) Ethereum-based blockchain technology to develop a decentralized, secure, and cognitive networking and computing infrastructure for deep space exploration. The blockchain consensus protocols will be further explored to improve the resilience of the infrastructure.”
As explained by professor Kocsis, the project is intended to develop a cognitive architecture wherein the spacecraft no longer need to rely on direct information sent by scientists from Earth.
Instead, smart contracts by Ethereum will make them capable of think on their own’ in detecting and evade floating space debris that could prove significantly damaging in the event of a collision
She further adds that,
I hope to develop technology that can recognize environmental threats and avoid them, as well as complete a series of tasks automatically,
As of now details regarding the public or private type of Ethereum Blockchain is not known.
As per NASA official Thomas Kacpura, the success of this project could lead to the “next-generation space networks” and hence “decentralized processing between the nodes of the NASA space network in a secure manner “, which means a more responsive and flexible network that is scalable and can also integrate current networks.
