History and Tradeoffs of TEEs

In this episode of the Crazy Wisdom podcast, host Stewart Alsop sits down with Daniel Bar, co-founder of Space Computer, a satellite-based secure compute protocol that creates a "root of trust in space" using tamper-resistant hardware for cryptographic applications. The conversation explores the fascinating intersection of space technology, blockchain infrastructure, and trusted execution environments (TEEs), touching on everything from cosmic radiation-powered random number generators to the future of space-based data centers and Daniel's journey from quantum computing research to building what they envision as the next evolution beyond Ethereum's "world computer" concept. For more information about Space Computer, visit spacecomputer.io, and check out their new podcast "Frontier Pod" on the Space Computer YouTube channel.

Timestamps

00:00 Introduction to Space Computer
02:45 Understanding Layer 1 and Layer 2 in Space Computing
06:04 Trusted Execution Environments in Space
08:45 The Evolution of Trusted Execution Environments
11:59 The Role of Blockchain in Space Computing
14:54 Incentivizing Satellite Deployment
17:48 The Future of Space Computing and Its Applications
20:58 Radiation Hardening and Space Environment Challenges
23:45 Kardashev Civilizations and the Future of Energy
26:34 Quantum Computing and Its Implications
29:49 The Intersection of Quantum and Crypto
32:26 The Future of Space Computer and Its Vision

Key Insights

1. Space-based data centers solve the physical security problem for Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs). While TEEs provide secure compute through physical isolation, they remain vulnerable to attacks requiring physical access - like electron microscope forensics to extract secrets from chips. By placing TEEs in space, these attack vectors become practically impossible, creating the highest possible security guarantees for cryptographic applications.
2. The space computer architecture uses a hybrid layer approach with space-based settlement and earth-based compute. The layer 1 blockchain operates in space as a settlement layer and smart contract platform, while layer 2 solutions on earth provide high-performance compute. This design leverages space's security advantages while compensating for the bandwidth and compute constraints of orbital infrastructure through terrestrial augmentation.
3. True randomness generation becomes possible through cosmic radiation harvesting. Unlike pseudo-random number generators used in most blockchain applications today, space-based systems can harvest cosmic radiation as a genuinely stochastic process. This provides pure randomness critical for cryptographic applications like block producer selection, eliminating the predictability issues that compromise security in earth-based random number generation.
4. Space compute migration is inevitable as humanity advances toward Kardashev Type 1 civilization. The progression toward planetary-scale energy control requires space-based infrastructure including solar collection, orbital cities, and distributed compute networks. This technological evolution makes space-based data centers not just viable but necessary for supporting the scale of computation required for advanced civilization development.
5. The optimal use case for space compute is high-security applications rather than general data processing. While space-based data centers face significant constraints including 40kg of peripheral infrastructure per kg of compute, maintenance impossibility, and 5-year operational lifespans, these limitations become acceptable when the application requires maximum security guarantees that only space-based isolation can provide.
6. Space computer will evolve from centralized early-stage operation to a decentralized satellite constellation. Similar to early Ethereum's foundation-operated nodes, space computer currently runs trusted operations but aims to enable public participation through satellite ownership stakes. Future participants could fractionally own satellites providing secure compute services, creating economic incentives similar to Bitcoin mining pools or Ethereum staking.
7. Blockchain represents a unique compute platform that meshes hardware, software, and free market activity. Unlike traditional computers with discrete inputs and outputs, blockchain creates an organism where market participants provide inputs through trading, lending, and other economic activities, while the distributed network processes and returns value through the same market mechanisms, creating a cyborg-like integration of technology and economics.