Trust is a fundamental component of blockchain protocols, which can reduce the involvement of transaction intermediaries while ensuring the security and privacy of devices. By building a trusted environment that can ensure security and transaction integrity, parties can conduct transactions in a peer-to-peer manner and receive outputs accurately. A protocol that cannot be interfered with by malicious parties is particularly important if a trusted environment is to be established.

To enhance the security, decentralization and scalability of the protocol, satellite developer and operator Cryptosat partnered with developer incentive platform Hackathon organizer DoraHacks to launch a trusted launch experiment in space. Earlier, Cryptosat and Nanoracks Europe, a technology company that has been providing commercial space services since 2009, successfully conducted the first experiment of its kind on the International Space Station. Experiments demonstrate the feasibility of generating trusted boots in space. In this particular environment, the remoteness of space ensures greater security and decentralization relative to comparable ground services.

The Common Reference String produced in the experiment provides a zero-knowledge proof for managing user privacy and protecting the Dora Grant DAO (Decentralized Organization) voting system. The underlying logic of zero-knowledge proofs is that one party proves the validity of its specific output in an encrypted manner rather than by sharing private information with a second party.

This trusted boot is the stage where the public reference string is generated. For a trusted launch to reach the verification stage, at least two parties need to have set up zero-knowledge proofs to run the standards they rely on. Without a trusted boot, malicious users could upload their own CSRs to the protocol, thereby invalidating system trust.

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The Potential of Space Computing Is Unlimited

Founded in 2020, Cryptosat is committed to providing tamper-proof computing services for multiple industries including blockchain, applications, protocols and services. Cryptosat's 2022 seed round will amount to $3 million, part of which comes from DoraHacks' investment. Cryptosat provides a secure encrypted computing environment in low-Earth orbit via a satellite the size of a coffee cup. This option has become increasingly viable as the cost of launching and monitoring satellites continues to fall with the advent of private space contractors such as SpaceX.

The physical isolation provided by this approach guarantees tamper-resistant modification of the Cryptosat orbital hardware, while also protecting it from state and non-state actors. Unlike terrestrial hardware that relies on high security measures and internet connectivity as well as power, Cryptosat's satellite-based computing is completely self-contained. The system is designed to be more defensible and sustainable after using solar power and open communication relays. Any attempt to tamper with the system would have to be close to it in orbit.

The Trusted Launch Experiment has released its latest experiment results following the successful launch of Cryptosat's Crypto 2 satellite on the SpaceX Transporter 6 mission on Jan. 3. Compared with the in-orbit satellite Crypto 1 launched last May, the current satellite in orbit has 30 times the computing power. These satellites help Cryptosat evolve into a Trusted Execution Environment for cryptographic projects and a trusted startup service provider for other computing tasks.

The latest round of experiments took place aboard the International Space Station and follows several tests on the ISS, including last year’s Drand protocol’s publicly verifiable randomness beacons and data security applications. Although the latest experimental results on the space station have successfully demonstrated the feasibility of trusted boot, its application is limited to a one-to-one model, which means that there is no common template that can be tried for multiple applications.

With the first experiment successfully concluded, Cryptosat and DoraHacks will continue to conduct more tests and experiments to improve trusted computing technology so that it can be used more widely. Potential uses include developing new blockchains or powering protocols through trusted launches in space.