Avalanche is expanding its reach beyond the financial sector, venturing into space with a novel network designed to authenticate telescope data in real-time. SkyMapper's Avalanche-based network employs cryptographic techniques to record observations from telescopes worldwide, converting each data point into a secure and verifiable digital record. This innovation, dubbed 'Proof of Space Observation,' enables the verification of celestial events, ensuring the integrity and accuracy of the data. The SETI Institute is contributing to this endeavor by providing live observational data, marking a significant integration of institutional science into a blockchain-based verification system.
The primary objective of SkyMapper is to address the escalating issue of data explosion from satellites, drones, and space missions, and the challenges associated with verifying the authenticity of this data. By leveraging blockchain technology, SkyMapper creates a permanent and tamper-resistant record of each observation, allowing for independent verification.
The system functions by validating observations at the moment of capture, generating a unique digital fingerprint for each event, which is then time-stamped and transmitted through SkyMapper's infrastructure. Instead of relying on a centralized database, the data is dispersed across a decentralized storage network, with a digital fingerprint saved on the Avalanche blockchain for later verification. Smart contracts are utilized to scrutinize incoming data, organize it, and regulate access.
This setup enables the independent verification of each observation, allowing users to confirm the authenticity and integrity of the data, trace its origin, and determine when and where it was recorded.