On September 21, 2024, at 01:02 (Paris time), Rocket Lab’s Electron launcher successfully placed into orbit 5 new satellites from the Kinéis constellation dedicated to the Internet of Things (IoT) market, bringing the number of nanosatellites deployed to 10 out of the 25 planned. Ultimately, this first European constellation for the IoT will connect any object anywhere on the globe, in near real time, and will transmit useful data for applications necessary to the challenges of our century. This was Electron’s 53rd mission.
On the occasion of the success of this 2nd launch, Alexandre Tisserant, CEO of Kinéis, recently elected “Personality of the Year” by the newspaper La Tribune, declared:
Kinéis transforms the test with this 2nd successful launch. Congratulations to the technical teams who take charge of these 5 new satellites of our constellation to put them in position. With 10 nanosatellites in flight, we are getting closer to the opening of our commercial services available all over the world. In a few months, Kinéis will connect thousands of objects and transmit data to companies, public organizations in many fields of activity.
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 considerable challenges for economic players, government authorities, environmental forecasting and monitoring organizations. Thanks to its innovative mission of collecting and transmitting data in near real time, anywhere in the world, Kinéis delivers high value-added data to its end users. This quality data represents a real decision-making tool (forecasts, 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 a turnover of 6 million euros in 2023, the Toulouse start-up is aiming for profitability within three years with nearly 20 million euros in turnover. The opening of preliminary commercial services will take place at the end of 2024, while waiting for the opening of full services in 2025. Kinéis does not hide its ambition to become the European leader within three years, and to hold a third of the global IoT market, relying among other things on several key strategies that take advantage of its unique assets 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 make it possible to develop tailor-made solutions and accelerate the deployment of Kinéis IoT services in target markets, such as establishing partnerships with telecom players or sensor manufacturers allowing faster market penetration.
The first freight application using Kinéis connectivity
As part of a strategic partnership, the industrial consortium between Europorte, the leading private rail freight operator in France, and Kerlink, a global provider of solutions dedicated to the Internet of Things (IoT), has developed Track Value, a revolutionary tracking and monitoring solution for all freight activities (road, rail, air and maritime). This is the first industrial application, dedicated to the freight and logistics sector, which integrates data transmission via Kinéis spatial connectivity.
The most reliable solution for early detection of forest fires
Kinéis has partnered with the German Dryad Networks, leader in 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 detection and alerting rescue services in less than 15 minutes, even in remote white areas.
IoT applications tailored to the needs of the Indian market
Kinéis’ partnership with Dhruva Space aims for the latter to provide Kinéis IoT services in India and develop new innovative applications supported by the Kinéis constellation. This 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 innovate and develop new applications and services tailored to the Indian market, thereby promoting technological advancements.
Access to spatial IoT with a chip from the terrestrial IoT market
Kinéis’ collaboration with the American Semtech (a global supplier of high-performance semiconductors, LoRa® and cellular IoT systems, and connectivity services) is revolutionizing access to satellite connectivity with the integration of Kinéis’ spatial connectivity with Semtech chips. This terrestrial and spatial IoT complementarity provides access to global coverage for millions of users, in a simple and direct manner. This Kinéis-Semtech offer has been received with great interest by the IoT ecosystem.
An offer adapted to the needs of the global market
Thanks to its global connectivity, in near real time, Kinéis services meet the main needs of economic players and global organizations: tracking, monitoring, alerting. These 3 needs are inherent to different areas of activity for which Kinéis data provides added value:
- Agriculture: managing farms with unparalleled precision, increasing their yield while reducing their impact on the environment.
- Environment: anticipation (floods), monitoring (wild herds) and responses to natural disasters (forest fires).
- Energy: energy management (continuous network monitoring) 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 tracking of shipments, transport quality control (guarantee of product integrity), loading optimization, reduction of errors and logistics costs.
- Maritime activities (commercial or leisure): transport management and safety (maritime shipping, recreational boating, fishing).
The possibilities offered by Kinéis satellite IoT are multiple and infinite. The success of this 2nd launch supports the satellite IoT revolution initiated by Kinéis.
A French success story
The successful launch into orbit of these 5 new nanosatellites of the Kinéis constellation could not have been achieved without its technical and industrial partners:
- CNES, for the satellite control command center and the 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), the integration and industrialization of nanosatellites
- Thales Alenia Space, for responsibility for system architecture, payloads 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, On Board Computer)
- Erems, for the satellite’s energy management and distribution box
- Sodern, for the star sensor
- Safran, for ground station receivers
- Exail, for system (remote controls) and reference (system monitoring) tags
- Scalian, for test benches associated with payloads and mission performance
- Cegedim, for hosting IT resources and connection with control rooms (Kinéis and CNES) and with ground stations.
This phase of the Kinéis project has become a reality thanks to 100% French funding, both public and private, thanks to the support of Bpifrance, CLS, CNES, the Frère family, BNP Paribas Développement, CELAD, Maison Dassault, and Ethics Group.
For more information visit: www.kineis.com