Bagpipes - the first defence against alien invaders?
A UK entrepreneur is planning to use space‑based data centres to transmit recordings of a Scottish pipe band to the Moon. The project, involving the Laidlaw Memorial Pipe Band and Oxford professor David Kerr, aims to launch satellites in early 2027 with the music beamed later that year. Proponents suggest the lunar data centres could both secure data from cyber threats and serve as a whimsical deterrent against hypothetical alien invaders.
- ▪Chris Stott's company Lonestar Data Holdings is developing data centres that could be placed on satellites and the lunar surface.
- ▪The Laidlaw Memorial Pipe Band from Banbury will provide the bagpipe recordings for the experiment.
- ▪Satellites are scheduled for launch at the beginning of 2027, with the pipe band’s music to be transmitted to the Moon later that year.
- ▪Supporters claim lunar data centres would protect information from cyber attacks and humorously act as part of an alien defence system.
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| Publication time | Thu, 30 Jul 2026 10:15:52 GMT |
| Retrieval time | 2026-07-30T10:17:02.381Z |
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Bagpipes - the first defence against alien invaders?Image source, Reuters/Getty ImagesImage caption, The sound of bagpipes could soon make it into spaceByEthan GudgeSouth of EnglandPublishedJust now"Imagine you're a Martian, you're just about to invade Earth, you're hiding in the moon... and suddenly you meet the martial music of the bagpipe."David Kerr, who lives in Banbury, is a proud Scotsman and a member of the Laidlaw Memorial Pipe Band based in the north Oxfordshire town.Through mutual friends, Kerr has got to know astronautics entrepreneur Chris Stott - who is the boss of American company Lonestar Data Holdings.Stott wants to use the technology his firm is developing to store data in space to beam the distinctly Scottish sound of the Laidlaw Memorial Pipe Band onto the Moon."He…
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