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A crypto mining company(In May 2018) sent a balloon into the stratosphere to mine bitcoin on the edge of space, reaching over 35,000 meters in altitude. The company also shared the results of its survey on what the price of bitcoin would be this year.
Space Launch PR Stunt
On Monday, Miner One launched "Space Miner One (SMO)", a high-altitude balloon equipped with bitcoin mining equipment. Miner One describes itself as a community of individuals focused on mining cryptocurrency profitably, rather than a pool or cloud service. The organization is extremely optimistic about the future of bitcoin and hopes that this PR stunt will serve as a symbol of the cryptocurrency's potential to reach $35,000 and beyond.”
Miner One's "Space Miner One (SMO)" consists of a large latex balloon filled with helium and equipped with a parachute. The balloon carries ASIC mining equipment, including two ASIC USB Block Erupters, a Raspberry Pi 3 microcomputer, a battery, and a satellite phone. These items are housed in a carbon fiber SMO capsule, along with a metal "bitcoin" souvenir that will be given to the winner of the Miner One Sweepstakes
Miner One's "Space Miner One (SMO)" also includes navigation and tracking equipment with an independent power supply, as well as thermo insulation and a thermoregulator to protect it from extreme temperatures. The launch sequence for the balloon involves activating the ASIC and linking it to the internet via a satellite transmitter as the balloon passes through the troposphere. As it enters the stratosphere, the balloon expands in size due to the falling air pressure, making it visible from the ground. Before descending, the balloon is detonated, the parachute is deployed, and the SMO begins its journey back to earth, which takes approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes. After reaching a height of over 35,000 meters while mining bitcoin, the SMO successfully returns to earth and is recovered in an open field in Lithuania
Space Miner One in the Stratosphere
As spaceflight companies such as Space X make it more affordable to launch commercial satellites into space, the possibility of mining bitcoin from above the atmosphere becomes more appealing to investors and mining companies. The abundance of solar energy and freezing temperatures in space offer significant benefits for the mining process, which may one day be commonly used. Additionally, mining bitcoin in space may be the only economically viable way to use energy generated in orbit, according to Bitcoin developer Peter Todd. He pointed out that it is cheaper to transmit solar power collected in space back to Earth in the form of blocks rather than as electricity. While Space Miner One's mission did not include solar panels, it could take advantage of the low temperatures in the stratosphere and communicate with the ground via satellite phone during the mining process. Despite the 2.5-hour mission time and the Block Erupter's relatively low mining hash rate of 330 Mh/s, the mission could still be seen as a proof of concept for mining bitcoins in space.
Bullish on Bitcoin
The CEO of Miner One, Pranas Slusnys, elaborated:
We are bullish on bitcoin because it remains the world’s most popular and proven application of blockchain technology. And we see growing interest and adoption, despite recent market doldrums.
Miner One conducted a survey of over 1,500 community members and found that 31% believe that the price of bitcoin will rise above $15,000 this year, 26% believe it will go above $25,000, and 10% think it will surpass $35,000.
