Fleet Space Technologies announced that it has secured US$26.4 million in investment, valuing the company at US$126 million. This represents a major step forward for Fleet Space Technologies, which is committed to creating the world’s most advanced low-power satellite network, securing planet-wide coverage for millions of compatible Internet of Things (IoT) devices by using its in-house nanosatellite technology. This funding will underpin significant expansion in Fleet Space’s manufacturing footprint and will expand the company’s highly skilled workforce.
The investment, which exceeded the initially targeted US$25 million is a clear endorsement of Fleet Space’s vision. The Australian start-up, co-founded by Flavia Tata Nardini and Matt Pearson, has created the most advanced smallsat payload yet delivered to orbit. These smallsat devices, roughly the size of a shoebox, generate 10 times more throughput per kilo than larger spacecraft and will support radical new efficiencies for hundreds of industries using IoT. This will transform the ability of companies and institutions to manage and control their remote assets across the world and in real-time, 24 hours a day, even in remote areas, where cellular connectivity is not available and where operations are critical.
The investment also represents a firm commitment to Australia’s rapidly emerging space industry, which the Federal Government plans to grow to a $12 billion, ranking the sector among the nation’s fastest growing industries. Its expansion in the region will also create 70 jobs, including many highly desirable science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) positions in the first phase of growth. These roles not only secure a bright future for the country’s technical innovators and critical thinkers, but will support in making Australia a home for innovative solutions that drive positive change on a global scale.
The International Data Corporation predicts that there will be more than 14 billion connected, low-power devices by 2025. To unlock the full force of efficiencies that lie in the data collected by these devices there must be a network through which this information is gathered and analysed. Only with this information can improvements in products and the way they are used be truly realised.
Fleet Space technology provides this function to businesses big and small through a smallsat satellite-based network. The existing network is made up of six nanosatellites, which were launched to orbit via SpaceX, an Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) rocket and twoRocket Lab launches. Fleet Space’s latest Centauri 4 nanosatellite has been integrated with digital beamforming technology which uses an array of multiple antennas along with cutting edge Digital Signal Processing. This beamforming technology provides a substantial increase in throughput of customer IoT data and can service a higher number of customer portals at once. Integrating this digital beamforming into a nanosatellite which is not much bigger than a loaf of bread, is a world first. Beamforming can also dramatically improve data reliability and security by reducing the impact of interference.
These nanosatellites are combined with ground-based networks, affording industries a cost effective way to benefit from the information of their IoT enabled devices where cellular networks are unavailable. Through a growing constellation of nanosatellites and proprietary network gateways which harness the LoRaWAN communication protocol…As well as vastly reducing unnecessary carbon emissions, this technology will free organisations of billions of dollars of lost value by leveraging the Internet of Things. The US$26.4 million investment will increase the size of Fleet Space’s constellation and meet unprecedented demand from more than three million compatible devices registered to join the Fleet Space network.
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