Danish Architecture firm BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group) partnered with Lonestar Data Holdings to design the “Freedom Payload”, the first data centre to be stored on the moon. Launched in 2024, the Freedom Payload is expected to reach the moon’s surface by 3 March 2025. The project aims to safeguard humanity's data by relocating storage to the lunar surface, providing a secure backup in event of terrestrial disasters ensuring data preservation for future generations.
The design of the Freedom Payload holds significant symbolic meaning. Designed as a sundial, it pays celebrates both the legacy and future of space exploration. The form features the profiles of two NASA astronauts—Apollo 16's Charles Duke and spacewalker Nicole Stott—whose silhouettes will cast evolving shadows throughout the lunar day.
Weighing approximately 1 kilogram with the size likened to a hardback book, the data centre offers a storage capacity of up to eight terabytes. It has been designed to operate entirely on solar power and utilizes the Moon's natural cooling environment. The structure employed 3D-printing transforming lunar regolith into solid, stone-like structures suitable for the Moon's harsh environment.
This ambitious project represents a significant leap in expanding humanity's presence beyond Earth.
