6 November 2026, St John’s, Antigua and Barbuda: The Sustainable Markets Initiative (SMI), founded by His Majesty King Charles III in 2020 when he was Prince of Wales, and Lonestar Data Holdings Inc. (Lonestar), a space-based data storage company, announce a collaboration to advance resilient, sovereign data protection and sustainability in space. The announcement, which included a commitment to provide one terabyte of data to every Commonwealth country, was made at the SMI’s Business Forum in Antigua and Barbuda, alongside the 2026 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).

Approved digital copies of the SMI’s guiding mandates – the Astra Carta and Terra Carta charters – together with selected environmental and climate-related data, will be placed aboard Lonestar’s StarVault™ low Earth orbit pathfinder mission. The materials will be stored as a secure, immutable off-world archive. The mission is intended to demonstrate how space-based storage can provide an additional layer of protection for important records while highlighting the importance of sustainability in the development of digital and space infrastructure.

The collaboration brings together the SMI’s work to accelerate the sustainable transition and responsible space-based activity and exploration with Lonestar’s development of StarVault™, a space-based data storage and processing platform. This partnership will explore how orbital storage can complement terrestrial systems, strengthen data resilience and support customers’ sovereignty objectives.

The mission will also promote discussions about development principles for new data infrastructure with sustainability integrated as the default, and will incorporate updates from data centers in space, which have significantly lower operational costs and reduced water and power consumption while operational, due to the abundance of power and cooling in space.

Jennifer Jordan-Saifi, President and Global Envoy of the Sustainable Markets Initiative, said: “Space is becoming increasingly important to the resilience of our digital infrastructure and our ability to understand and protect our planet. This collaboration with Lonestar offers an exciting opportunity to demonstrate how innovation in space-based data infrastructure can help safeguard important records while bringing sustainability into the design of the next generation of space technologies.

Through the Astra Carta, the Sustainable Markets Initiative is working to ensure that sustainability is embedded in the growth of the space economy from the outset. By bringing together pioneering companies and shared purpose, we can help turn that ambition into practical action — advancing responsible space activity while harnessing its potential to deliver lasting benefits for Earth.”

Stephen Eisele, Chief Executive Officer of Lonestar Data Holdings, commented: “Data protection and sustainability are becoming increasingly connected questions for governments and businesses. This collaboration gives us a practical way to demonstrate secure, off-world data preservation while highlighting the importance of building the next generation of digital infrastructure responsibly.”

The SMI’s Astra Carta framework builds on the principles of the Terra Carta and sets out a roadmap for aligning space-related activity with sustainability goals. The planned archival mission will bring these sustainability materials together with environmental data in a StarVault node, creating a practical example of how records can be preserved beyond Earth.