Coral Gables as Founding City Partner for Space-Based Data Protection

The City of Coral Gables joins Lonestar as a Founding City Partner for its StarVault network. Through a 12-month pilot project, the teams will test how storing data in space can help the City recover from disruptions and preserve its history for future generations.

The City’s Innovation & Technology Department and Lonestar’s team will work together to add space-based storage to the City’s existing backup systems. A cyberattack can disable both an organization’s systems and the safeguards it needs to respond. This is a growing concern as AI accelerates these attacks. StarVault adds a physically independent storage layer in space, designed to help protect essential information from cyber threats, hurricanes and infrastructure outages.

Through Lonestar’s StarSafe and StarKey services, the pilot will protect critical information and digital security keys needed to restore City services after a major disruption. The recovery data can be updated over time to reflect the City’s evolving needs. The pilot will also preserve selected historical and cultural records in a Coral Gables Digital Heritage Archive, protecting the community’s history for future generations. The City will retain sovereignty over its data, including ownership and control over who can access it and when it can be recovered. Work is underway to prepare selected City data for storage aboard the first orbiting data storage system in Lonestar’s StarVault network, scheduled to launch into space in April 2027.

“A city’s data holds both its memory and the foundations of its future,” said Chris Stott, Lonestar Space Founder and Chairman. “Coral Gables is helping us bring space infrastructure into the everyday work of protecting communities. Together, we will demonstrate how a city can safeguard the records that define it and the information it needs to recover and keep serving its residents.”

The collaboration also creates opportunities for community engagement, science and technology education, and research through the City’s Smart City Research Lab and Gables Tech Tank community partners. These activities could connect students with the practical challenges of preserving digital history, protecting essential information and developing future space-based services.

A successful pilot would pave the way for an ongoing partnership, expanding the City’s use of space-based data protection to strengthen resilience and preserve its digital heritage.