Fleet Space: Step into the Space with IoT

The world is advancing at unprecedented rates and the technologies evolving are capable of creating microbots that can transmit trillions of data files at once. As technology moves on, connectivity is pivotal and plays a very major role almost everywhere. Fleet Space is an agile space company based in South Australia dedicated to connecting everything using cutting-edge communications and space technologies to enable the next giant leap in human civilization. They specialize in creating low-cost satellite-based systems for Industrial IoT(Internet of Things) applications and are using advanced space technologies to simplify IoT. The company has designed, built, and launched Australia’s only commercial NanoSatellites. With six satellites already in orbit and the next iteration launching in 2022, Fleet Space is building a constellation of 140 small satellites in Low Earth Orbit.

By launching Australia’s first four commercial nanosatellites in November 2018, Fleet Space created history. And they are continuing their work on the Centauri Program, having launched its fifth and sixth satellites in 2021, and planning to launch the next batch of satellites in 2022. The company has developed the world’s first 3D printed all-metal patch antenna, gaining 10X more throughput per kilo of spacecraft. Together, these novel technologies provide unrivaled planet-wide, 2-way connectivity for the industrial IoT.

“Space is no longer the sole domain of governments and multi-billion-dollar satellites. Space is open for business, and we’re only just starting to tap into what is possible,” says Fleet Space CEO Flavia Tata Nardini. “With our digital beamforming technology, we are changing space and making it accessible. With a crowded radio spectrum containing all of the world’s wireless communications, bandwidth efficiency is everything. Our engineers have managed to fit incredible technology into the vacuum of space on a tiny nanosat. This is where Fleet Space’s technology makes it world-first.” Flavia added.

With the ability to shape and steer multiple beams in their nanosatellites, and therefore reduce interference, Fleet Space can perform more work, transfer more data, and do it in more flexible and secure ways like never before became possible at this scale. Their nanosatellites are servicing IoT customers who will now be able to collect and organize vast amounts of data from every remote corner of the earth. Critical infrastructure customer use cases include tracking power outages, receiving alerts of unwanted encroachments along easements and bushfire risks, through applications in defense, mining, and logistics.

With significant growth in its development of cutting-edge technologies, the company’s capabilities of its agnostic hybrid satellite low-powered wide area network (LPWAN) are being used for the development of remote massive IoT applications, on the Earth, the Moon, and Mars, through their Seven Sisters Lunar Mission. Fleet Space’s solution supports the explosion of low-cost sensors in the new massive Low Power Wide Area Network IoT market, by aggregating the sensors data in a central gateway able to perform edge computing intelligence in the field to enhance the capabilities of the sensors and reduce the traffic in the network.

The need for connectivity and instant communication is at the highest levels unlike ever before and the involvement of satellites is huge. Integrating advanced technologies into nanosatellites and launching them into space, opening a wide range of possibilities for businesses everywhere on Earth is an incredible path to travel. Fleet Space is on its journey to make IoT simple and accessible for businesses to make connectivity easier and a lot more hassle-free. The venture is aimed at liberating space from the ownership of government agencies and is opening possibilities for the public as well. By extending its valuable service to various fields including defense, critical minerals, and utilities, Fleet Space is expanding its horizons gradually.