Satellite IoT operator Kinéis has a deal with Hyderabad-based space engineering solutions provider Dhruva Space to produce compatible devices and solutions to grow low-power satellite IoT applications in India. Kinéis will have a constellation of 25 nanosatellites in low-Earth orbit (LEO) by early 2025. It is launching the constellation in batches of five over eight months through the early part of next year. The first five launched on June 18, on a SpaceX shuttle. Three further launches are scheduled for 2024; a final launch will take place in the first quarter of 2025.
The France-based startup, which has announced agreements with Germany-based Dryad Networks, offering solar-powered AI-assisted LoRaWAN gas sensors for, and France-based Europorte, developing a new tracking solution for the freight industry, expects to offer commercial satellite IoT support with Dhruva Space when the LEO network is complete. It said its LEO network, offering LoRaWAN connectivity via satellite, will be supported by “development and large-scale manufacturing for end-user terminals by Dhruva Space for India”.
A statement said the pair will “launch a Kinéis IoT payload on Dhruva Space P-30 satellite”, as part of Kinéis’ forthcoming launches. Each LEO satellite weighs 30 kilograms, and is set to operate at an altitude of 650 kilometres. It said: “Dhruva Space [will provide] Kinéis IoT services in India along with new and innovative applications which can be supported by Kinéis’ 25-satellite constellation… [It] will allow Kinéis and Dhruva Space to offer cost-effective, advanced, and reliable IoT … and develop new applications and services [for] the Indian market.”
Dhruva Space, founded in 2012, sells LEO satellites, ground stations, and launch services. Its P-DoT CubeSat satellite platform and Bolt terrestrial/satellite terminal are used variously by civilian and defence clients. “Later this year, Dhruva Space is slated to launch its first Hosted Payload mission utilising its P-30 nanosatellite platform, a modular and scalable satellite bus offering both hosted and dedicated mission capabilities. The platform is scalable for Earth Observations constellations, secure communications, and strategic use-cases,” said the statement.
Kinéis, spun-off from the French Space Agency (CNES) in 2018, has been in charge of the ARGOS satellite monitoring system, started in 1978 as a collaboration between CNES and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), with support also from NASA. The ARGOS system had been managed previously by CNES-subsidiary CLS (Collecte, Localisation, Satellites), before CNES and CLS created Kinéis. It comprises seven LEO satellites. Kinéis reckons 25 satellites will be enough to provide “near real-time connectivity”, globally.
Toulouse-based Kinéis raised €100 million from French private and public investors in 2020. It generated a turnover of €8.4 million in 2021. It has “subsidiaries” in the US, Brazil, and Singapore, and approval from the FCC to operate in the US market. In May, it announced a deal with Semtech to offer native satellite support in the California firm’s LR1110 and LR1120 LoRa Edge chips – “without the need for any additional hardware”. It also has a legacy deal with Sigfox owner Unabiz. The is targeting the logistics, oil and gas, agriculture, and energy and utilities sectors.
Sanjay Nekkanti, chief executive at Dhruva Space, said: “Our existing partnership with Kinéis has been built on a foundation of mutual confidence and trust. By enhancing this collaboration, we are poised to deliver innovative IoT services that will drive digital transformation and open new opportunities for businesses and communities throughout the country. Together, Kinéis and Dhruva Space is committed to passing on the benefits of space-tech advancements for novel use-case development across India.”
Alexandre Tisserant, chief executive at Kinéis, said: “This technological and commercial partnership with Dhruva
Space is a concrete expression of the relationship of trust established with Kinéis and reflects the joint drive to provide high-performance spatial IoT services for the Indian market. The applications of Kinéis connectivity are infinite (environment, agriculture, monitoring of energy networks, commercial maritime activities), and our commercial services will bring considerable benefits to Indian public and private players.”
The mission of the Kinéis IoT constellation is to connect any object anywhere in the world (including black points) and transmit useful low data to users in near real time. Kinéis operates for optimisation in areas that today represent major challenges for mankind, its activities and its environment: prevention of natural risks (detection of forest fires, floods, drought, pollution, etc), agriculture, traceability of wild and farmed animals, monitoring of infrastructures and energy networks, monitoring of transport and logistics, monitoring of commercial and scientific maritime activities.
The applications are infinite and the benefits considerable: risk reduction, anticipation of breakdowns, optimisation of activities, etc. Dhruva Space will provide these services in India, wherein significant efforts shall be placed towards experimentation and development of new and innovative applications that can be enabled by the Kinéis satellite network.
