Spacecoin, a U.S space startup building a decentralized internet network, has partnered with the Midnight Foundation to explore the development of a private peer-to-peer messaging application.
- •The collaboration will investigate how programmable, cryptographic privacy can be applied to messaging systems operating beyond traditional internet infrastructure, eliminating both content surveillance and metadata collection while reducing reliance on centralized networks that can be monitored, censored, or shut down.
- •The move follows internet blackouts in Uganda during the recently completed general election, and in Iran, where a near-total shutdown has been used to mask a violent crackdown on protests.
- •While the initial focus is on private messaging, the combined infrastructure could support a wide range of privacy-critical applications, from private financial transactions over satellite networks to confidential healthcare communications in remote regions.
"Partnering with Spacecoin allows us to explore what privacy looks like when it is protected end to end—from cryptography to connectivity—so people can engage online with confidence and peace of mind," said Fahmi Syed, President of the Midnight Foundation, an organisation whose technology enables censorship-resistant yet compliant decentralised applications.
In addition to bypassing internet shutdowns, the partnership is also meant to beat surveillance, which has become common across the globe as governments leverage regulatory pressure to access user data, forcing centralized platforms to choose between user privacy and market access. This is exemplified by how encrypted messaging services collective extensive metadata on users, and cooperate with government data requests.
"Private messaging solves one problem. But the infrastructure we're exploring to build together solves many," said Tae Oh, Founder of Spacecoin. "The same stack that protects a message protects a financial transaction or a medical consultation. The real opportunity here is privacy as infrastructure, not as a feature."
The Spacecoin blockchain protocol coordinates the satellite network through smart contracts, eliminating centralized control points so no single entity can shut down or compromise the system. Midnight enables selective disclosure on-chain through zero-knowledge proofs, allowing users to prove they are authorized to communicate without revealing identity, location, or communication patterns, while also protecting transaction metadata
The proposed peer-to-peer messaging platform would combine these layers to deliver communications that are end-to-end encrypted with no server intermediaries, censorship-resistant at the infrastructure level, and geographically resilient, working anywhere with satellite coverage even when terrestrial networks are compromised.
Spacecoin secured regulatory approval from the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) to deliver satellite IoT services, as it expands its global footprint.
