Blockchain Properties for Near-Planetary, Interplanetary, and Metaplanetary Space Domains

Blockchain technologies have demonstrated new and interesting ways to construct terrestrial economies, including the well-known public cryptocurrencies, but also as a means to facilitate business-to-business and business-to-consumer transactions. Some have recently proposed uses for blockchains in space. This paper identifies desirable blockchain properties that could be used to construct future in-space economies. Three general economic domains are anticipated, each with their own communications limitations that drive the selection of applicable blockchain properties: operations in orbits around planetary bodies where real-time communication is possible (for example, within cislunar space around Earth or cisdeimotic space around Mars), operations across interplanetary space between spheres of influence where pseudo-real-time communication is possible (for example, Earth-Mars or Earth-asteroids), and operations in metaplanetary space within the solar system but beyond the limit of pseudo-real-time communication. Blockchain properties are suggested for each domain, with a focus on the selection of blockchain consensus algorithms. An evaluation is performed on the readiness of extant technologies to operate in each domain.