Lacuna Space and Miromico have signed a collaboration agreement for the development and easy provision of ‘space ready’ and off-the-shelf communications devices using ultra low-power and low-cost satellite links.
Following successful tests conducted this year the first commercial trials with Miromico devices and selected enterprise clients of the Swiss company in agriculture, environmental monitoring or asset tracking are starting in 2020. By using LoRa®1 the de-facto standard for low power wireless IoT, the life-time of battery operated IoT devices can be increased by years, saving operation and maintenance cost. The mutual use of LoRa also allowed Miromico to easily and quickly adapt their hardware and connect directly to Lacuna Space’s satellite.
Lacuna Space’s first satellite.
Photo is courtesy of the company.
In parallel to the field tests the two companies will develop a global distribution chain giving customers a simple way to buy modems, firmware, antennas and devices that will enable them to use the Lacuna Network. Semiconductor specialist Avnet Silica is working with Miromico to give easy access to IoT hardware. The first phase of the deployment of the Lacuna Network will be its constellation of 36 small satellites in LEO by the end of 2022. Orbiting at 500 km. above the Earth’s surface, the Lacuna Space Network will provide ubiquitous communication for billions of new wireless IoT devices everywhere in the world including areas of no connectivity.
The devices on the Lacuna Network will seamlessly integrate with any LoRaWAN® (long range wide area network) network on the ground within reach.
Miromico Lacuna devices.
Photo is courtesy of the company.
The LoRa-based space gateway on each satellite also uses the LoRaWAN communication protocol to receive short data messages from IoT sensors on the ground or at sea. This will provide the uninterrupted connectivity that is needed between terrestrial LPWAN (low power wide area networks).
Marcel Wappler, head of IoT & LPWAN at Miromico, said that a low-cost and low-power satellite link such as Lacuna Space’s technology built directly into every smart device will ignite a second IoT revolution. The company is facing a skyrocketing but yet unmet demand for smart devices with low power, affordable, and global connectivity. The lack of global connectivity is holding back endless applications, some of which will help to solve the most difficult challenges of our times such as enabling solar powered local grids in South America and elsewhere, improving agricultural yield, or tracking the global flow of goods or assets and monitor their carbon footprint. Together with Lacuna Space, the company can begin to meet that demand.
Rob Spurrett, CEO and co-founder of Lacuna Space, added that the company has been really impressed by Miromico and their depth of knowledge with LoRa devices was of great importance. The firm is being very selective in the choice of initial partners for the development of the company’s devices as these first steps are vital for Lacuna Spoace. Once the satellite constellation becomes operational, the demand will scale really quickly.
1LoRa stands for Semtech Corporation’s long range wireless radio technology that allows a carrier signal containing information to be spread over the entire frequency spectrum reducing interference and interception while requiring ultra low power.