Space Solar and Lonestar sign Letter of Intent to host sovereign data storage on orbital power platforms

A new chapter for data infrastructure is being written in orbit, and two of the sector's boldest players are now writing it together. Space Solar, the UK company building space-based solar power and the large in-space assembled power structures the orbital economy will run on, and Lonestar, the US pioneer that has already stored data on the Moon, have announced their intent to cooperate on hosting Lonestar's StarVault data storage modules aboard Space Solar spacecraft.

The partnership pulls together two of the most talked-about ideas in the space sector: putting data and AI compute beyond Earth, and harvesting power in orbit to make it possible.

The collaboration sets out three core areas of work. The first is joint engineering, where the companies will run joint studies to adapt StarVault modules for operating aboard Space Solar's spacecraft, ensuring the technology is optimised for life on a much larger orbital platform. The second is mutual data services: Space Solar's own missions and customers stand to benefit from Lonestar's secure storage and processing capability, opening the door to data and compute services delivered alongside orbital power, with Space Solar becoming both a host for Lonestar and a potential customer of it. The third is multi-orbit deployment, with the parties intending to host StarVault modules across Low Earth Orbit, Medium Earth Orbit and Geostationary Orbit, a span few partnerships in space have ever set out to cover and one that would lay the groundwork for a genuinely distributed, secure data fabric in space.

The combination tackles the biggest constraint on the emerging orbital data-centre sector: power. Today's deployable solar arrays realistically plateau at around 500 kilowatts, with engineering complexity rising sharply above 200 kilowatts. Space Solar's modular, in-space assembled structures are designed to break that ceiling, delivering the kilowatts, and ultimately megawatts, of clean orbital power and the platform area required to host distributed, connected fleets of data systems. As Lonestar scales from systems at the 100-watt and kilowatt class through to full constellations, Space Solar's assembled structures could one day host hundreds, even thousands, of StarVault systems operating as a single connected fabric in space.

Lonestar intends to fly as a rideshare customer on OSPREYBuilder, Space Solar's first in-space assembly demonstration mission, currently planned for 2028. From 2030, the companies plan to scale to larger, higher-power hosted structures, opening the path to sovereign orbital data infrastructure at a scale not previously achievable in space.

Sam Adlen, co-CEO of Space Solar, said: "Teaming up with Lonestar is one of those partnerships that makes immediate sense. They are pioneers in sovereign, resilient data storage in space. We are building the orbital power and platform area that lets that vision scale. “Together we can offer customers something neither of us could deliver alone, from first demonstration missions on OSPREY Builder through to large, distributed data infrastructure across multiple orbits. “It’s fantastic to be on this journey with Chris and the Lonestar team, and excited by what this partnership opens up for the wider orbital economy."

Chris Stott, Chair and Founder of Lonestar added: "At Lonestar we are building the future of resilient, sovereign data storage in space. Having already tested data storage from the lunar surface and in cislunar space, we are now scaling toward constellations of connected vaults across every orbit, and doing that at scale needs power. Space Solar's in-space assembly capability is key. Their platforms could one day host hundreds, even thousands, of our systems as a single connected fabric in space. Teaming up with Sam, Martin and the Space Solar team is a significant step forward for both companies, and for the orbital data economy as a whole."

Under the announcement the parties intend to form a joint technical working group, identify pilot mission opportunities, and explore wider frameworks for investment, joint ventures or strategic partnerships.