With TRL-6 tests passed, lunar partners set for Moon Mission in 2023

Phison Electronics Corp. (TPEX: 8299), a global leader in NAND flash and storage solutions, announced today that its 8TB M.2 2280 SSD solution has completed flight qualification tests required for Lonestar Data Holdings’ historic first lunar data center mission. This SSD has been selected by Lonestar’s contractor and Phison’s partner, space logistics company Skycorp. Skycorp is also Lonestar’s engineering design and manufacturing partner for the lunar data center mission scheduled for the second half of 2023.

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NASA TRL-6 Certified Phison 8TB NVMe SSD (Graphic: Phison)

“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, Phison 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, Phison’s 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, Phison'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 advanced multi-core RISC-V in space server architecture, which contains Phison’s space-certified 8TB SSD.

“Phison is proving to be a superb provider,” said Christopher Stott, Founder and CEO of 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, Skycorp CEO. “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 Phison’s SSD solution on its intelligent Space Systems Interface (iSSI) experiment avionics on the International Space Station. It features a four terabyte SSD connected to Microchip Technologies Polarfire™ System on a Chip (SoC). That same technology has now been significantly upgraded to an eight (8) terabyte 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, Phison’s journey into space continues to skyrocket. The company 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.

About Lonestar

Lonestar Data Holdings Inc. (Lonestar), headquartered in St. Petersburg’s Maritime and Defense Technology Hub, has been founded by a proven team of experts from the Cloud and Space verticals to pioneer a future for data at the edge for all of us. www.lonestarlunar.com

About Skycorp

Founded by Dennis Wingo, Skycorp is revolutionizing the way orbital vehicles are developed, deployed and operated. The recent delivery of the Intelligent Space Systems Interface Flight Qualification Experiment marks a key milestone in Skycorp’s development of the Orbital Logistics Vehicle. Skycorp has participated in and enabled several successful space missions, partnering with NASA and others to bring innovative solutions to space. Skycorp is partnered with Phison to provide their SSD solutions for multiple space missions under development. www.skycorpinc.com

About Phison

Phison Electronics Corp. (TPEX:8299) is a global leader in NAND Flash controller IC and storage solutions. We provide a variety of services from controller design, system integration, IP licensing to total turnkey solutions, covering applications across SSD (PCIe/SATA/PATA), eMMC, UFS, SD and USB interfaces, reaching out to consumer, industrial and enterprise markets. As an active member of industry associations, Phison is on the Board of Directors for SDA, ONFI, UFSA and a contributor for JEDEC, PCI-SIG, MIPI, NVMe and IEEE-SA. For more information visit www.phison.com and www.phisonblog.com

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