Phison 8TB M.2 2280 SSD Completed Flight Qualification Tests Required for Lonestar Lunar Data Center Mission

Phison Electronics Corp. announced that its 8TB M.2 2280 SSD solution has completed flight qualification tests required for Lonestar Data Holdings, Inc.’ historic first lunar data center mission.

This SSD has been selected by Lonestar’s contractor and Phison’s partner, space logistics company Skycorp, Inc. Skycorp is also Lonestar’s engineering design and manufacturing partner for the lunar data center mission scheduled for 2H23.

“After comprehensive testing and certification process, Phison is thrilled that our SSD technology has passed all the rigorous requirements for Lonestar’s upcoming Moon mission,’’ said K.S. Pua, CEO. “We are excited about playing a vital role on this important mission, and other future ones as we continue our foray into the new frontier. We also want to thank our outstanding customer, Lonestar, and partner, Skycorp, for helping to make this happen.”

To gain NASA Technology Readiness Level 6 (TRL-6) certification, the 8TB M.2 SSD had to pass a series of tests, including deep cryogenic temperatures and vacuum conditions found on the moon. An electromagnetic environment qualification was also completed. In addition, the firm’s SSD technology passed stress and environmental tests that simulated the launch on the SpaceX Falcon 9. Skycorp conducted these tests at government and commercial test facilities in Silicon Valley.

Lonestar, which is launching a series of data centers to the lunar surface to provide off-site archival and edge processing services, is sending the first data center to the Moon as a payload on Intuitive Machines’ NOVA-C lander under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program. In support of its mission, Lonestar selected Skycorp for its space qualified hardware infrastructure. SkyCorp is providing its multi-core RISC-V in space server architecture, which contains space-certified 8TB SSD.

“Phison is proving to be a superb provider,” said Christopher Stott, founder and CEO, Lonestar Data Holdings, Inc. “We are truly heartened that the qualification tests have gone well, and that our payload has passed these fundamental next steps for spaceflight. Our next giant leap is the Moon itself.”

“Space is in transition, and the use of quality commercial components in a space environment is often complicated,” said Dennis Wingo, CEO, Skycorp. “Phison has demonstrated not only the quality of their products, but their incredible product engineering support for our efforts.”

This certification comes on the heels of Phison and Skycorp announcing a partnership in September, 2022 focused on in-space processing and the archiving of information. Skycorp is currently using elements of the company’s SSD solution on its intelligent Space Systems Interface (iSSI) experiment avionics on the International Space Station. It features a 4TB SSD connected to Microchip Technologies Polarfire SoC. That same technology has now been upgraded to a 8TB SSD that will journey to the Moon with Lonestar’s first server on the second Intuitive Machines NASA CLPS lunar lander mission.

With the certifications and partnerships in place, the company’s journey into space continues to evolve. The firm has an 8GB uSSD on the Mars Perseverance Rover, along with a 4TB SSD on the International Space Station on Skycorp’s RISC-V based computer.