<p>Astral provides open-source tools + infrastructure empowering developers to build user-centric, verifiable location-based apps on the decentralized web.</p>
<p>We create the tools, standards and protocols necessary for a decentralized geospatial web, simplifying how Web3 developers integrate spatial and location data into their apps.</p>
<p>We’ve developed the Location Proof Protocol, introducing a new Web3 primitive representing user locations. The Location Proof Protocol is a framework for creating location proofs, which are digitally-signed claims about the timing and location of events.</p>
<p>We’ve already launched our beta, including the specification, reference implementation, API and SDK. The Location Proof Protocol is built on EAS — our v0.1 schema is deployed on multiple chains: Celo, Base, Arbitrum and Ethereum Sepolia.</p>
<p>In addition to location proofs, we’re researching verifiable geocomputation systems — geospatial algorithms in smart contracts and cryptographic protocols. We’ve also been doing R+D on p2p geospatial data systems for efficiently storing, managing, and accessing diverse spatial data types, such as sensor measurements, drone imagery, and satellite data.</p>
<p>These tools unlock a new category of trustworthy, location-aware decentralized applications and robust geospatial workflows, enabling use cases like:</p>
<ul>
<li>Environmental monitoring and digital MRV</li>
<li>Climate modeling and forecasting</li>
<li>Transparent transport and mobility systems</li>
<li>Interactive location-based games</li>
<li>Compliance verification and fraud detection</li>
<li>Secure human rights reporting</li>
</ul>
<p>Our codebase is open source — it's co-maintained with the Decentralized Geospatial Collaborative, an open source project we co-founded with a team at the University of Maryland’s Geographical Sciences Department. We also conduct academic research, looking ahead at how Web3 design principles can enhance the capabilities of geospatial computing technologies — you can read our vision paper <a href="https://osf.io/bg2uq_v1">here</a>.</p>