The Freedom Data Center, the first data center specifically designed to store data on the Moon, has officially left Earth from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Designed by BIG for Lonestar Data Holdings, the Freedom Data Center launched into space on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and will arrive on the Moon via Intuitive Machines’ Athena IM-2 Lunar Lander. The 26 x 17 cm prototype can store up to 8 TB of data – including government data, artwork, historical records, the video game Starfield, a music video by Imagine Dragons, and more – and features the profiles of two U.S. astronauts: Charlie Duke, moonwalking Apollo 16 astronaut, and Nicole Stott, the spacewalking International Space Station astronaut. Set to land on the Moon’s south pole, the data center will rely on solar energy during the lunar day and cease operation at lunar nightfall, while the profiles of Duke and Scott will continue to cast everlasting shadows on the surface of the Moon. As BIG’s first built project to enter space, the Freedom Data Center marks the initial step in space becoming a recognized home for data management. “As we prepare to return to the Moon to stay, it is important that everything we do these coming years of lunar settlement is done with intention and care. Even if modest in scale, this data center is one of very few artifacts designed to remain part of the lunar landscape for years to come.” – Bjarke Ingels, Founder & Creative Director, BIG
