NASA Scientists to Begin Studying Blockchain Potential for Space Communication

During the last couple of months, we have seen blockchain adoption and research for a large variety of niches, yet space hasn’t been mentioned too often. Now, recent reports indicate that the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration, commonly known as NASA has awarded a $330,000 grant to Akron University scientists, to study the potential of blockchain technology in facilitating space communications.

With this in mind, the team of researches that will be attempting to create a Resilient Networking and Computing Paradigm for space exploration and communication, will be led by Dr. Jin Wei. According to a recent post by the University of Akron, “Dr. Jin Wei Kocsis, an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, has been selected for a prestigious NASA Early Career Faculty grant. This three-year grant totals $333,000. (…) The work done by Kocsis will advance cognitive communications for NASA science and exploration by developing a resilient networking and computing paradigm that will improve the efficiency of space communications.”

So far, it is expected that the research scientists will launch the RNCP protocol by using a wide variety of technologies, including artificial intelligence, deep machine learning methods, and the Ethereum blockchain.

In the research synopsis, it was mentioned that blockchain technologies will be adopted to create a decentralized infrastructure that can ensure security, and easily process various forms of spatial communication. The synopsis also read: “Our infrastructure will be designed to facilitate deep learning based data analysis. Furthermore, to achieve high scalability for the blockchain-based infrastructure, we will exploit the software-defined networking (SDN) technique and propose an adaptive management strategy.”

The research team will evaluate how the RNCP system works in multiple environments, including deep space, low earth orbit and more.

If the project is successful and the results are implementable, then chances are that soon enough, we will be able to witness blockchain technology facilitating better, and more efficient communications between inter-spatial objects, but also between space objects and Earth.