On 21 September 2024, at 01:02 (Paris time), Rocket Lab’s Electron launcher successfully put into orbit 5 new satellites in the Kinéis constellation dedicated to the Internet of Things (IoT) market, bringing to 10 the number of nanosatellites deployed out of the 25 planned.
Ultimately, this 1st European constellation for the IoT will connect any object anywhere in the world, in near-real time, and transmit useful data for the applications needed to meet the challenges of our century. This was Electron’s 53rd mission.
Commenting on the success of this 2nd launch, Alexandre Tisserant, CEO of Kinéis and recently voted ‘Personality of the Year’ by La Tribune newspaper, said:
“Kinéis has repeated the success of this 2nd launch. Congratulations to the technical teams who are taking charge of these 5 new satellites in our constellation to get them into position. With 10 nanosatellites in the air, we are one step closer to making our commercial services available worldwide. In a few months’ time, Kinéis will be connecting thousands of objects and transmitting data to businesses and public bodies in a wide range of fields.”
Data, the new black gold of the 21st century, at the heart of the Kinéis mission
The digital revolution has placed data at the heart of our societies. Today, it represents a considerable challenge for economic players, government authorities and environmental forecasting and monitoring bodies. Thanks to its innovative mission to collect and transmit data in near-real time, anywhere in the world, Kinéis delivers high added-value data to its end-users. This high-quality data represents a genuine decision-making tool (forecasting, anticipation, action) and offers companies and organizations considerable benefits: risk reduction, anticipation of breakdowns, lower maintenance costs, and optimization of their activities.
A global ambition
With sales of €6 million in 2023, the Toulouse-based start-up is aiming for profitability within three years, with sales of nearly €20 million. Preliminary commercial services will be launched at the end of 2024, with full services expected to be available in 2025. Kinéis has made no secret of its ambition to become the European leader within three years, and to hold a third of the global IoT market, by relying among other things on several key strategies that capitalise on its unique strengths in the field of nanosatellites and IoT.
Strategic commercial and technological partnerships with global players
Kinéis signs strategic partnerships with key players in the technology and space industry. These collaborations enable the development of tailor-made solutions and accelerate the deployment of Kinéis IoT services in target markets, such as partnerships with telecoms players or sensor manufacturers for faster market penetration.
The first freight application to use Kinéis connectivity
As part of a strategic partnership, the industrial consortium between Europorte, France’s leading private rail freight operator, and Kerlink, a global provider of solutions dedicated to the Internet of Things (IoT), has developed Track Value, a revolutionary traceability and monitoring solution for all freight activities (road, rail, air and sea). This is the first industrial application dedicated to the freight and logistics sector to incorporate data transmission via Kinéis space connectivity.
The most reliable solution for early detection of forest fires
Kinéis has joined forces with Germany’s Dryad Networks, a leader in the ultra early detection of forest fires. This strategic partnership will integrate the direct transmission capabilities of Dryad Networks’ Silvanet forest fire sensors with Kinéis satellites, opening up revolutionary new possibilities for detecting and alerting emergency services in less than 15 minutes, even in remote white zones.
IoT applications tailored to the needs of the Indian market
Kinéis is partnering with Dhruva Space to provide Kinéis IoT services in India and to develop innovative new applications supported by the Kinéis constellation. The collaboration also includes a joint satellite mission to increase the capacity of the Kinéis space segment for India. This partnership will enable Kinéis and Dhruva Space to offer cost-effective, advanced and reliable IoT solutions, as well as to innovate and develop new applications and services tailored to the Indian market, thereby fostering technological advances.
Access to space IoT through a chipset from the terrestrial IoT market
Kinéis‘collaboration with US-based Semtech (a global provider of high performance semiconductors, LoRa® and cellular IoT systems, and connectivity services) is revolutionizing access to satellite connectivity by integrating Kinéis’ space-based connectivity with Semtech’s chips. The complementary nature of terrestrial and space IoT means that millions of users can access global coverage simply and directly. This Kinéis-Semtech offer has been received with great interest by the IoT ecosystem.
An offering tailored to the needs of the global market
Thanks to its global connectivity in near-real time, Kinéis services meet the main needs of global economic players and organizations: tracking, monitoring and alerting. These 3 needs are inherent to different areas of activity for which Kinéis data provides added value:
- Agriculture: managing farms with unrivalled precision, increasing their yields while reducing their impact on the environment.
- Environment: anticipation (floods), surveillance (wild herds) and response to natural disasters (forest fires).
- Energy: energy management (continuous monitoring of networks) for regulatory compliance, safety, and performance.
- Infrastructures: regular monitoring of their condition to facilitate maintenance and prevent risks (sending alerts in the event of anomalies).
- Transport: near real-time monitoring of shipments, transport quality control (guaranteeing product integrity), load optimization, reducing errors and logistics costs.
- Maritime activities (commercial or leisure): transport management and safety (shipping, pleasure boating, fishing).
The possibilities offered by Kinéis’ satellite IoT are numerous and infinite. The success of this 2nd launch underpins the satellite IoT revolution initiated by Kinéis.
A French success story
The successful launch into orbit of these 5 new nanosatellites in the Kinéis constellation would not have been possible without the support of its technical and industrial partners:
- CNES, for the satellite command and control centre and constellation operations as an integrated team, until the handover to the Kinéis teams in 2025,
- Hemeria, for the development of the platform (solar panels and harnesses manufactured in house), integration and industrialisation of the nanosatellites,
- Thales Alenia Space, for payloads (engineering, software, integration) and the mission centre,
- Syrlinks, for payloads (hardware and production),
- Cobham, for the co-design of the UHF/S antenna,
- Comat, for the co-design and production of the UHF/S antenna and the reaction wheels,
- Steel Electronique, for the On Board Computer (OBC),
- Erems, for the satellite’s power management and distribution box,
- Sodern, for the star sensor,
- Safran for the ground station receivers,
- Exail for the system beacons (remote controls) and reference beacons (system monitoring),
- Scalian for the test benches associated with payloads and mission performance,
- Cegedim, to host the IT resources and provide connections with the control rooms (Kinéis and CNES) and with the ground stations.
This phase of bringing the Kinéis project to fruition has become a reality thanks to 100% French public and private funding, with support from Bpifrance, CLS, CNES, the Frère family, BNP Paribas Développement, CELAD, Maison Dassault and Ethics Group.
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