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The US-based Space Exploration and Research Agency (SERA) and The Open Network (TON) Foundation person launched a caller Telegram-based Mini App that volition let users to ballot connected who gets to alert to abstraction aboard a Blue Origin rocket.
The initiative, called Mission Control, is portion of a broader effort to “democratize” abstraction entree by opening up astronaut enactment to planetary users via onchain voting connected the TON blockchain, according to a Tuesday announcement shared with Cointelegraph.
According to the announcement, SERA has secured each six seats connected a aboriginal Blue Origin New Shepard mission, presently scheduled for motorboat betwixt the archetypal and 2nd quarters of 2026.
Five seats are reserved for individuals from countries that person had constricted oregon nary practice successful space, namely India, Nigeria, Brazil, Thailand and Indonesia. The sixth spot is unfastened to the planetary public, excluding radical from countries that are taxable to sanctions.
Max Crown successful Singapore astatine the Token 2049 conference. Source: CointelegraphRelated: TON whitethorn go the archetypal mundane blockchain by 2027
TON launches onchain abstraction voting
Applicants indispensable registry done the Mission Control Telegram Mini App, which integrates onchain voting via the TON blockchain. Participants tin enactment candidates by completing challenges and earning in-app points called “SpaceDust.”
In an interrogation with Cointelegraph during the Token2049 conference, TON Foundation CEO Max Crown revealed that last enactment volition beryllium determined by a operation of nationalist formats, including online voting and TV shows, depending connected the country.
“The thought was fundamentally to democratize space,” Crown said. “Going to abstraction was ever precise elitist. And there’s, I think, 300 astronauts oregon something, if you really number it,” helium added.
Funding for the task comes from the TON Foundation, alongside sponsorships and imaginable advertizing tied to nationalist campaigns. The semipermanent extremity is to repetition the exemplary crossed further countries, utilizing akin open-selection mechanisms.
Crown said the inaugural is besides meant to boost Telegram wallet adoption and broader blockchain participation. To vote, users indispensable make a TON wallet wrong Telegram. Achievements and information badges volition beryllium issued arsenic non-fungible tokens (NFTs) connected TON.
SERA describes itself arsenic a “space bureau for everyone,” aiming to supply opportunities for mean citizens to go astronauts and enactment successful abstraction science. It antecedently sent 1 Brazilian national to abstraction successful 2022 done a akin NFT-based campaign. That effort led to the subordinate becoming a nationalist celebrity, according to Crown.
Related: TON’s UAE ‘golden visa’ mishap shows wherefore ineligible reviews matter
TON Wallet launches successful the US
In July, Telegram rolled retired its self-custodial crypto wallet, TON Wallet, to users successful the United States. Built connected the TON blockchain, the wallet allows users to send, person and store assets similar USDT and Toncoin straight wrong the Telegram app.
TON Wallet was developed by The Open Platform, a tech institution focused connected creating Web3 apps for Telegram. On July 3, The Open Platform announced its successful $28.5 cardinal Series A backing round, achieving a $1 cardinal valuation.
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