Satellite Nodes are the public face of the Pakana protocol. They serve the dashboard, expose the developer API, and submit ZK proofs to PakanaTracker on behalf of users. Each verification pays one third of the LBX fee to the Satellite operator who relayed it.
A Pakana Satellite Node is the read-only public replica of the Primary Node. It serves three roles: it exposes the developer-facing HTTP API and dashboard so applications and users can read protocol state without depending on a single centralized endpoint, it relays user-submitted ZK proofs to the PakanaTracker Soroban contract on Stellar Mainnet, and it earns LBX rewards for every proof it successfully relays.
Satellite Nodes do not have authoritative power over the protocol. They cannot mutate the canonical state. They cannot censor proofs (a user can submit through any Satellite, or directly to the contract). They cannot issue LBX. They are paid for the work they perform — relaying and serving — and the protocol keeps them honest by paying only on successful on-chain verifications.
The Primary Node is intentionally not exposed to the public internet. It runs no HTTP server. All public traffic is served by Satellite Nodes. This means the verification gate cannot be subverted through an API exploit, and the protocol scales horizontally by adding Satellites without ever growing the Primary's attack surface.
Per-proof rewards in LBX, paid on-chain at the moment of successful verification.
| Component | Share | Paid for |
|---|---|---|
| Primary Node | 1/3 of LBX fee | ZK verification work and Stellar event ingestion |
| Satellite Node | 1/3 of LBX fee | Relaying the proof and serving the dashboard/API |
| Bounty & admin pool | 1/3 of LBX fee | Audits, circuit work, ecosystem grants |
Operator returns scale with relayed proof volume. A Satellite serving a high-traffic application — for example a Dark Armada match cluster or a busy x402 facilitator — earns substantially more than one serving low-volume traffic. There is no minimum stake to run a Satellite. There is no slashing. The protocol pays only on work performed.
Single VM. Three commands. mTLS to the Primary, public HTTPS to the world.
The installer pulls the operator runtime, generates an mTLS certificate signed by the Primary, configures local YottaDB, opens HTTPS on port 443 via a Caddy reverse proxy, and registers your operator account on-chain. From the moment pakana-satellite up exits successfully, your node is eligible to earn LBX on relayed proofs.
The Satellite Node operator program is open for early operators. Single-VM deployment, mTLS replication from Primary, LBX rewards on every proof you submit.