Recording data from spaceflights can yield key insights for aerospace companies. But if certain equipment is damaged, that data can be lost, leaving operators in the dark.
Enter Immortal Data, a curiously-named tech startup in Las Cruces commercializing a platform that it claims will allow flight data to live on.
Immortal Data offers a "distributed black box" system that saves information such as voices in the cockpit, mechanics and other data points. And by distributing the technology around an aircraft via several small, cell phone-sized devices — as opposed to a single, larger device — the data onboard may have a better chance at surviving an event that causes damage.
In addition, a GPS locator can be used to guide rescue operators to the locations of the black box devices.
Instead of having “one large and heavy and very armored box that absolutely must survive, we go with several cheap units," CEO Dale Amon said. "By having a number of boxes instead of just one, we pretty much guarantee the data will survive the breakup."
Amon said he originally decided to locate Immortal Data in Las Cruces because "things were starting to happen with Spaceport America and Virgin [Galactic]." That momentum, along with his familiarity of the area and disdain of California's business climate, spurred him to move the company to New Mexico.
Immortal Data's website says it conducted four years of tests on an engine from XCOR Aerospace, a defunct space plane firm that Amon said the startup subcontracted for. The company is also preparing for a crowdfunding round that is expected to go live on Netcapital.
As part of the effort, Immortal Data will aim for up to $5 million raised.
Immortal Data has two workers in Las Cruces, where it is headquartered, plus another 10 scattered throughout the country, Amon said.
