Piqued my interest, as a sci-fi nerd and Monero enthusiast. How much would it realistically cost to get a Monero node in space? Blockstream already run a Bitcoin Node in Space.
So I started to throw some costs together to see if it's viable as a fundraiser.
Note that this is partly a thought experiment, but it's totally possible! The latency in Orbit is like 1ms so no problem.
Try and censor this, nation states!
Launch:
Up to 50kg payload to SSO orbit with SpaceX : $300,000 (looking to 2026 launch dates)
Stacked Cubesat with Solar Array, All controllers, 10Mbps laser communications, 512GB Radiation proof storage, high-power radio, up to 3 cameras etc. (1U is smaller and cheaper to send, like $100k rather than 300K if a node fits inside)
Space nodes are at best useful as a marketing stunt. It's really the worst place to put a computer. A node in a bunker is much safer and is actually maintainable after its initial deployment, if you need coverage anywhere on earth, Elon has already spent billions for you to utilize starlink :)
I'd propose to instead do a fundraiser to buy our own version of the cyberbunker where we can set up a real beefy node, host events, set up a hacker space, etc ;)