Archives for February 2020

Kinéis has reached its capital-raising target of 100 million euros.

CLS, CNES, Bpifrance via the fund for Industrial Project Companies (SPI), financed by the ‘Investments for the Future’ Program and the European Investment Bank, Ifremer, Thales, CELAD, BNP Paribas Développement, HEMERIA and other industrial and financial partners are investing in and supporting Kinéis’ ambition to provide universal satellite connectivity.

Twenty-five smallsats will be added to complement the service which has been provided by the Argos system to scientific and environmental communities for more than 40 years. Kinéis will also develop its activity in the new markets opened up by the IoT.

Kinéis has completed an historic capital-raising campaign, established strategic commercial partnerships with Bouygues Telecom, Suez, the Wize Alliance and Arribada and filled their order book. This new French global connectivity provider, which already has eight operational satellites, has now become the first IoT satellite connectivity player to finance its development, from the construction of the firm’s constellation to the launch of its 25 nanosatellites, scheduled for 2022, and the development of its ground segment.

This young company is fulfilling its financial and industrial promises as well as their commercial and partnership commitments and is aiming to take their place in the NewSpace landscape.

Alexandre Tisserant

Alexandre Tisserant, who was appointed President of Kinéis, said the company is proud to have reached this major milestone. With the funds needed to launch the company’s constellation, the firm is now free to focus entirely on satellite manufacturing and commercial deployment. The unfailing support of CNES, the French space agency, underlines the project’s importance and signals that we are benefiting from major technical support.

The Kinéis constellation already consists of Argos operational payloads on seven satellites and a prototype nanosatellite, ANGELS, which was placed into orbit on December 18 last year. France’s first industrial nanosatellite, developed with the support of CNES and operated from the Toulouse Space Centre, carries technology similar to that of Kinéis.

Artistic rendition of the ANGELS smallsat. Image is courtesy of David Ducros.

The company stated that this launch and the first successful reception of messages bodes well for the future Kinéis system, which is being developed by the same industrial team: Thales Alenia Space (architect of the system, which is in charge of the development of payloads with Syrlinks, and which is responsible for ground stations and the mission control centre) and HEMERIA (which is responsible for the satellite platforms and integration).

The project is intended to be exemplary regarding environmental issues in that it uses smallsats which, in addition to complying with France’s Space Operations Act, are intended to avoid space debris. The Kinéis satellites, weighing less than 30 kg., will be equipped with an electric propulsion system that will secure end-of-life de-orbiting and enable collision-avoidance capabilities.

Get SAT and Hellas Sat have successfully demonstrated SATCOM capabilities on Hellas Sat’s network.

Hellas Sat and GetSAT’s partnership offers significant capability enhancements on Hellas Sat 4 satellite, with coverage over Europe, the Middle East and Southern Africa.

Using Get SAT’s MilliSAT-W terminal installed at Hellas Sat’s Kofinou, Cyprus, Earth Station and the Hellas Sat 4 Ku-Band satellite located at 39°E, the companies created a powerful comms link that exceeded expected parameters.

The satellite, which began commercial operations in Q3 2019, meets the growing capacity demand for applications including video, maritime connectivity, cellular backhaul, corporate networks and government services.

Artistic rendition of a Hellas Sat member of the firm’s constellation. Image is courtesy of the company.

Get SAT terminals provide highly versatile, mobile solutions for applications requiring smaller terminals. As the leading provider of new generation micronized terminals, they set new standards for lightweight, small-sized and low power consumption communication devices.

Their fast-tracking technologies, using a miniaturized interlaced flat panel antenna that combines receive and transmit elements and moves at speeds of 200 degrees per second, enable quick and easy access to broadband services.

Ilias Tsakalis, COO of Hellas Sat, stated that the company is proud to enhance Hellas Sat 4’s Ku-band capabilities via Get SAT’s terminals to our customers, including those requiring SATCOM-On-The-Move (SOTM). By expanding options for the customers’ applications, the company more closely aligns to their growing businesses and adds more capacity for their needs.

Kfir Benjamin, Get SAT CEO, added that Hellas Sat 4’s Ku-band has allowed the firm to fully demonstrate the capability of Get SAT’s exciting technologies. The cooperation between Get SAT and Hellas Sat technologies supports high data rates, adds value for their customers and enables us to pursue new potential users.

Following an award for funding provided as part of an initiative to help Britain’s small businesses achieve their exporting ambitions, Edinburgh, Scotland, based ResponsiveAccess has flown out to the SmallSat Symposium in California in search of partnerships and customers.

Under the banner of the Department for International Trade’s ‘Exporting is GREAT’ campaign, Heathrow Airport awarded a total of £40,000 in seed money to firms seeking funding for international trade missions and foreign market research. Responsive Access, part of a growing number of space sector start-up firms emerging throughout Scotland and the rest of the UK, is focused on simplifying access to space for smallsat customers looking to reach orbit in the near future.

The company, based at Edinburgh’s Royal Observatory building, is a participant in the ESA BIC UK, a prestigious business incubation program funded by the European Space Agency and UK Science and Technology Facilities Council.

As well as attending this major event, the company is understood to have lined up visits to the facilities of a number of launch vehicle developers to discuss the formalization of partnerships that will allow their customers to select the most suitable ride to orbit for their payloads.

On the business’ most recent award, CEO Andrew Paliwoda said the company is really excited to have the opportunity to travel to this event as it holds enormous potential for the firm to raise awareness about this project and to source potential customers. Heathrow Airport and the DIT’s support, such as the ESA funding previously received, is something the company immensely proud of obtaining. We can’t wait to show potential partners the results of the team’s hard work to date and the firm’s message to anyone looking to launch a payload into space is simple – let’s set up a meeting.

Ross Baker, Heathrow’s CCO, said that Britain’s small businesses are the backbone of our economy and Heathrow is proud to stand behind them. Whether it’s a Scottish company looking to cut the cost of space travel or a premium chocolate company from Yorkshire, this year’s winners set a new mark and Heathrow is proud to be helping take their products to markets around the world.