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

Flexential Tampa data center will host ground-based operations in first step toward establishing data center on the Moon

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Jan. 21, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Flexential, a leading provider of secure and flexible data center solutions, has partnered with Lonestar Data Holdings Inc. (Lonestar), a leader in lunar infrastructure and Resiliency as a Service (RaaS), to support Lonestar's upcoming launch of Freedom, their second data center to the Moon with Intuitive Machines' on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket as a precursor to its extraordinary 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 disaster recovery 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 two data centers in Tampa, four 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 at 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 disaster recovery 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 Solid-State Drives (SSDs) and a Field Programmable Gate Array (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 of 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 us this week at PTC'25 in Honolulu. For more information on Flexential's comprehensive suite of tailored infrastructure capabilities, visit www.flexential.com.

About Flexential
Flexential empowers the IT journey of the most complex businesses by offering customizable IT solutions designed for today's demanding high-density computing requirements. With colocation, cloud, connectivity, data protection, and professional services, the FlexAnywhere^® platform anchors our services in 42 data centers across 19 highly connected markets on a scalable 100Gbps+ private network backbone. Flexential solutions are strategically engineered to meet the most stringent challenges in security, compliance, and resiliency. Experience the power of IT flexibility and how we enable digital transformation at www.flexential.com.

About Lonestar Data Holdings Inc.
Lonestar is creating revolutionary resiliency while working to save all of Earth's data one byte at a time. Lonestar is at the forefront of merging Cloud and Space technologies and was founded by a team of experts to pioneer a future for data at the edge. Lonestar envisions endless possibilities for cis-lunar and lunar storage. The company is backed by remarkable investors, including Scout Ventures, 2 Future Holdings, Seldor Capital, the Veteran Fund, Irongate Global Capital, Atypical Ventures, Kittyhawk Ventures, and Backswing Ventures.

Media Contacts:

Alison Brooker
Corporate Marketing, Flexential  
[email protected]

Christian Rizzo
Gregory FCA for Flexential
[email protected]

Steve Eisele
Lonestar
[email protected]

SOURCE Flexential