Forward-looking: Lonestar Data Holdings isn't your ordinary cloud storage provider. The startup is quite literally looking beyond the clouds as the future destination for some of the world's most important data. Lonestar aims to one day offer clients the ability to store precious data on servers situated on the Moon. It sounds like science fiction, but the reasoning isn't all that far-fetched.

"It's inconceivable to me that we are keeping our most precious assets, our knowledge and our data, on Earth, where we're setting off bombs and burning things," said Christopher Stott, founder and CEO of Lonestar. "We need to put our assets in place off our planet, where we can keep it safe," Stott continued.

There's arguably nowhere better to store data away from Earth than the Moon. At a distance of roughly 240,000 miles away, our natural satellite is close enough to maintain constant communication with users on Earth yet far enough away to protect it from local calamities.

The Moon has its own set of challenges that Lonestar would need to overcome including fluctuating temperatures as well as cosmic and solar radiation. During the day, temps can hit upwards of 106 degrees Celsius before dipping to -183 degrees Celsius at night.

One way to circumvent these issues, Stott told The Register, would be to have robots install servers in ancient lava tubes beneath the lunar surface. Researchers believe these passageways could also be used as underground bases for lunar colonies, shielding inhabitants from micrometeorite impacts and other space-based hazards.

The startup hopes to conduct its first software-based test later this year before sending its own hardware to the Moon in 2024.

Image credit: NASA, Donald Giannatti