Crypto2
Cryptosat
Cryptosat's second orbital cryptographic satellite, providing a tamper-proof, space-based trusted execution environment for blockchain and Web3 applications.
Technical specifications
- Launch date
- January 3, 2023
- Launch vehicle
- SpaceX Falcon 9 (Transporter-6 rideshare)
- Predecessor
- Crypto1 (launched May 2022, Transporter-5)
- Successor
- Crypto3 (launched November 11, 2023, 3U CubeSat)
- Form factor
- Small nanosatellite, approximately coffee-mug sized
- Compute performance
- Approx. 30x the computational power of Crypto1
- Onboard processor
- ARM Cortex-A72 Quad Core, ARMv8, 64-bit
- Security model
- Physical isolation in orbit; digital signature attestation using keys generated on-orbit
- Key capability
- In-space generation of Ethereum KZG Ceremony contribution, April 2023
- Applications
- Verifiable random beacon, secure timestamping, delay encryption, threshold-signature co-signing
About
Crypto2 is Cryptosat’s second flagship cryptographic satellite, launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 (Transporter-6 mission) on January 3, 2023, roughly ten months after the company’s debut satellite Crypto1. No larger than a coffee mug, Crypto2 delivers about 30 times more computational power than Crypto1 and runs Linux applications on ARM-based flight computers inside Cryptosat’s ‘Crypto Engine’ compute modules. By performing sensitive cryptographic operations aboard a physically inaccessible orbital platform, Cryptosat achieves perfect physical isolation: there is no way to tamper with, side-channel attack, or physically access the hardware post-launch, while all outputs are attested via digital signatures generated from private keys created on-orbit. Capabilities include verifiable randomness generation, secure timestamping, encrypted data storage, and support for distributed cryptographic ceremonies. Crypto2 was used to generate a live contribution to the Ethereum KZG trusted-setup ceremony entirely in space in April 2023. Target customers are blockchain protocols, Web3 infrastructure providers, and enterprises needing hardware-rooted trust anchors and random beacons. Crypto2 was followed by Crypto3, a 3U CubeSat launched November 2023.
Documentation
No public datasheet yet — request the datasheet / ICD from the supplier.