designboom_on july 16, 1969, NASA launched apollo 11 to the moon, and humans soon walked on another world for the first time in history. 50 years after this monumental achievement, studio drift was invited by the aldrin family foundation to commemorate this historical moment at the kennedy space center’s rocket garden with a special performance of ‘franchise freedom’.

previously taking flight in the skies of amsterdam, miami, and the ‘playa’ at burning man, ‘franchise freedom’ is a performative artwork that sees an autonomously-flying swarm of drones enact a hypnotic display of technological choreography. after more than 10 years of research into the natural swarm behavior of starling birds, studio drift created a biological algorithm that brings technological innovation to life.

on july 16, 2019, studio drift sent 300 luminous intel shooting star drones to perform above NASA’s rocket gardenat the kennedy space center. this unique edition of ‘franchise freedom’ was accompanied by a live music performance from duran duran. ‘the apollo 11 moon landing exemplifies what technology can do for humanity,’ says ralph nauta, co-founder of studio drift. ‘let’s take this as an example of what amazing possibilities we have if we put our minds together. it is our responsibility to use technology to build a sustainable future.’ the performance paid tribute to the iconic shifts in technology throughout history that have positively shaped the evolution of humankind.