Flexential Links Up with Lonestar to Support First Commercial Data Center in Space

Flexential Corp. has partnered with Lonestar Data Holdings Inc. to support Lonestar’s upcoming launch of Freedom, their 2nd data center to the Moon with Intuitive Machines, Inc. on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket as a precursor to its ambition of building a data center on the Moon.

Flexential will offer colocation, interconnection, and professional services to support Lonestar’s mission control platform, providing additional backup and DR services through its Tampa data center. The location was selected for its proximity to launch operations along Florida’s Space Coast and its ability to provide low-latency connectivity for critical functions. Flexential operates 2 data centers in Tampa, 4 overall in Florida, as part of its FlexAnywhere Platform of 40+ data centers across the U.S.

The scheduled satellite launch comes as the demand for data center capacity continues to intensify. U.S. power consumption is projected to double from 17 GW in 2022 to 35 GW by 2030, according to McKinsey & Company, and space-based data storage solutions present an opportunity to meet this increasing demand by eliminating the need for terrestrial resources while advancing resiliency and reliability in data infrastructure.

Space-based data centers are also becoming particularly critical as government and commercial organizations seek to protect essential data against large-scale disasters, including earthquakes, hurricanes, wildfires, floods, warfare, and acts of terrorism, that could impact terrestrial facilities.

“Flexential’s partnership with Lonestar represents our commitment to advancing data center capabilities beyond conventional boundaries,” said Jason Carolan, chief innovation officer, Flexential. “By supporting Lonestar’s space-based data center initiative, we are helping to create new possibilities for data storage and disaster recovery. This project demonstrates how innovative data center expertise can help organizations prepare for a resilient future with off-world storage solutions.“

The primary purpose of Lonestar’s orbital data center will be to provide resiliency and DR and edge processing services for their global government and enterprise customers who require the highest levels of data protection. Unlike a traditional data center, Freedom is solar powered and naturally cooled leveraging SSDs and a FPGA edge processor.

Key to the offering is compliance with data sovereignty. Space-based assets are covered under international space law and maintain jurisdictional licensing ties to their launch state offering clear advantages for government agencies in recovery scenarios.

“Teamwork is everything. As we work to establish this next commercial data center on the Moon, testing it enroute in Cislunar space, being able to work with key terrestrial industry partners like Flexential is of critical importance to our customers as we all grow our offering.” said Chris Stott, founder and CEO, Lonestar. “Flexential’s expertise in critical infrastructure management aligns perfectly with our goals for secure, off-planet data storage, and its Tampa facility will be instrumental as we work to create new possibilities for data storage and disaster recovery beyond Earth.“

All available capacity on Lonestar’s Freedom data center has been allocated for the upcoming launch, which represents a significant step toward establishing a resilient network of space-based data centers designed to preserve and protect critical information.

To learn more about Flexential’s innovative solutions and discuss the future of data infrastructure, connect with at PTC’25 in Honolulu, HI.