Filecoin Foundation unveiled a first-of-its-kind mission to deploy the IPFS decentralized file system in space later in 2023. The launch is expected to take place aboard Lockheed Martin’s satellite, owing to the earlier partnership between the two companies.

Filecoin Foundation to Partner with Lockheed Martin

The Filecoin Foundation (FF), an independent organization that facilitates the governance of the Filecoin network, said it would deploy the decentralized file system in space later this year. The launch will be deployed on a Lockheed Martin satellite due to a previous partnership between Filecoin and the American aerospace technology company to create a decentralized file storage system for the space industry.

“Filecoin Foundation (FF) announced today a first-of-its-kind mission to deploy the Interplanetary File System (IPFS) in space. The mission will take place in 2023 aboard Lockheed Martin’s LM 400 Technology Demonstrator spacecraft.”

– Filecoin Foundation said in a blog post.

The move comes less than a year after the FF announced its initial collaboration with Lockheed Martin to launch the IPFS in space to increase the speed of data transfers across long distances. The mission represents the next step of that effort, aimed at bringing the advantages of decentralized storage to space and exploring how IPFS can improve interplanetary communication and data transfer.

The initial launch will demonstrate the technology, according to the press release. Lockheed’s satellite will carry out the test once it enters orbit, and that test will later be used to explore the use cases for decentralized storage in space.

The companies will mainly focus on the performance of IPFS regarding space-to-ground communication. IPFS-powered applications will be able to download the data from the IPFS network “without needing to know the location of the specific ground station holding the data,” FF said in the release.

What is the Interplanetary File System (IPFS)?

The Interplanetary File System (IPFS) is a distributed file storage protocol that enables computers worldwide to keep and serve files using a gigantic peer-to-peer network. It allows any computer to host and serve files by simply downloading the IPFS software.

However, the system differs from the internet’s centralized data storage in several ways. For example, IPFS references content by its location on a server rather than through unique identifiers. It retrieves data by connecting to the closest node on the network that has a unique identifier of the required content.

Meanwhile, IPFS is used for multiple use cases. For instance, Taiwan’s New Ministry of Digital Affairs uses IPFS to improve its cybersecurity capabilities, while blockchain company Etherparty uses it to facilitate tokenized securities on its platform.

This article originally appeared on The Tokenist

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