Bitcoin traders are fond of referring to the cryptocurrency as going “to the moon” when its price jumps. Now, a new service from blockchain firm Blockstream Inc. will actually take bitcoin partway to the celestial body, via a satellite.

Called Blockstream Satellite, the new service broadcasts real-time bitcoin data from satellites to large parts of the planet. The goal is to enable further participation in bitcoin, in particular by the many people in the world without Internet access and people in places where bandwidth prices make participating in bitcoin cost-prohibitive.

“Bitcoin is a powerful and transformative Internet native digital money that has blazed a trail of disruption, with its full potential yet to unfold,” Dr. Adam Back, co-founder and chief executive officer at Blockstream said in a statement. “Because it’s permissionless, bitcoin enables anyone to freely create new financial applications and other innovations that use the blockchain that haven’t been possible before.”

The satellite service allows users to operate and maintain a bitcoin node, a part of the bitcoin network that keeps a copy of the bitcoin blockchain and is also used to perform the task of validating and relaying transactions.

The company claims it’s the world’s first public satellite service that allows anyone to operate and maintain bitcoin nodes without the constraints of traditional network connectivity. Blockstream Satellite sends blocks in real time, as well as recirculates older blocks, providing free access to the Bitcoin blockchain for both veteran and new users of the cryptocurrency.

For those who are interested in the nerdy aspect of these things, the Blockstream Satellite network consists of three geosynchronous satellites at various positions over earth that cover four continents: Africa, Europe, South America and North America. Although the company has ignored Asia and Oceania for now, it plans to add additional satellites to the network by the end of the year, because it apparently believes no living soul on Earth should be without the ability to operate a bitcoin node.

Although it’s easy to be somewhat sarcastic, apparently some people are actually convinced this is a good idea. Tim Akinbo, who is said to run the only bitcoin node in West Africa, said that “when I first heard of Blockstream Satellite, I immediately recognized its great potential to bring bitcoin to regions of the world where Internet access is either unavailable or expensive.” Not to mention providing redundant access when the Internet is temporarily unavailable.

Image: Pixabay