Astrocast Revolutionizes Space IoT with Innovative Network

Astrocast's network is a game-changer for space IoT, providing a dedicated and secure communication link between satellites and ground stations.

With a constellation of 10 satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), Astrocast offers a global coverage area, making it an ideal solution for IoT applications.

The network's low latency and high throughput enable efficient data transfer, perfect for applications that require real-time communication.

Astrocast's innovative network is specifically designed for IoT applications, providing a secure and reliable communication link between satellites and ground stations.

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Astrocast has successfully launched a total of six batches of satellites, with 20 spacecraft in orbit around the Earth. As of November 2024, two test satellites and four batches of operational satellites have been launched.

The company has launched two test satellites, Astrocast 0.1 Kiwi and Astrocast 0.2 Hawaii, on December 3, 2018, and April 1, 2019, respectively. These satellites are equipped with Falcon 9 Block 5 and PSLV-QL launch vehicles.

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Astrocast has also launched four batches of operational satellites, with a total of 20 spacecraft in orbit around the Earth. The operational satellites include Astrocast 0101-0105 and Astrocast 0201-0205, launched on January 24, 2021, and June 30, 2021, respectively.

The company has partnered with Ontoto to improve borehole monitoring in mines using SatIoT connectivity. This partnership aims to provide remote monitoring of mining boreholes, enhancing the efficiency and safety of mining operations.

Astrocast has also partnered with Airbus to further enhance satellite IoT technology. This partnership aims to improve the capabilities of satellite Internet of Things (SatIoT) technology, enabling more efficient and reliable communication between satellites and ground stations.

Here is a list of the operational satellites launched by Astrocast:

Astrocast's IoT network is designed to tackle challenges in various industries such as Agriculture & Livestock, Oil, Gas & Mining, Maritime, Environmental, Connected Vehicles, and IoT devices. With a 100-nanosatellite constellation expected to be complete by 2024, the network will span the globe, allowing for low latency transmission.

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The satellites are equipped with propulsion and deorbiting capabilities, ensuring greater control of the network and avoiding unlikely collisions with space debris. Each satellite has a controlled lifetime of up to 5 years, with extra capacity and redundancy of critical components for guaranteed service reliability.

Astrocast's network enables companies to monitor, track, assess, and communicate with critical remote assets from anywhere in the world. The company has developed Astronode S, a cutting-edge terminal featuring a low profile L-band antenna, ultra-low power consumption, and a small form factor.

Astrocast offers a complete end-to-end, direct-to-orbit service that includes state-of-the-art communication modules and enterprise class services.

The company's network enables companies to monitor, track, assess, and communicate with critical remote assets from anywhere in the world.

Astrocast's satellite IoT network is comprised of 100 nanosatellites, each weighing around 5 kg, and spanning the globe by 2024.

The satellites are equipped with propulsion and deorbiting capabilities, allowing greater control of the entire network and the ability to avoid collisions with space debris.

Each satellite has a controlled lifetime of up to 5 years, with extra capacity and redundancy of critical components.

Astrocast's proprietary low-power L-band chipset is integrated into the Astronode S module, making it easy to integrate into IoT applications.

The company's data protocol is optimized for LEO satellites, enabling bidirectional communication, acknowledgments, and asset commands.

Astrocast's L-band radios have superior performance characteristics for IoT, including smaller antenna, lower-cost RF components, and fewer interference risks.

The company's service includes bidirectional communication, low latency, over-the-air updates, and a customer Web Portal with data access.

Astrocast's network allows for near real-time usage reporting, making it an ideal solution for industries such as agriculture, mining, and maritime.

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The WiFi Board is a game-changer for IoT development. It's an Astrocast emulator that lets you transmit your payload over WiFi, eliminating the need to wait for transmission windows.

This means you can develop your integrated solution in a much simpler way. Debugging satellite IoT can be a real pain, especially when you need to wait 6 hours to make a test.

To use the WiFi Board, you'll need to create an access token on the Astrocast portal. This token will be used to authenticate your device, so be sure to create it with the WiFi DevKit role.

Here's a step-by-step guide to get you started:

Once you've set up the WiFi Board, you can use it the same way as the satellite kit, but you'll get your data in the backend right away.

The Astrocast backend is built on Azure, which provides a solid foundation for its features. The quality of these features is good, but they're still in their early stages.

You can quickly access the next transmission windows for a device, which is useful for planning and organization. However, it's not clear how this works for multiple devices at once.

The platform allows you to check your traffic and access different devices, making it a convenient hub for monitoring your Astrocast setup.

The Astrocast satellite fleet is a network of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites that provide global coverage. There are currently 20 spacecraft in orbit around the Earth, with 19 of them operational.

The satellites are divided into two types: test satellites and operational satellites. The test satellites, Astrocast 0.1 Kiwi and Astrocast 0.2 Hawaii, were launched in 2018 and 2019, respectively.

The operational satellites are divided into six batches, each containing multiple satellites. The first batch, Astrocast 0101-0105, was launched in January 2021 and consists of five satellites. The second batch, Astrocast 0201-0205, was launched in June 2021 and also consists of five satellites.

The satellites are designed to have a lifespan of 3-4 years before they need to be renewed. To maintain the fleet, Astrocast estimates a yearly recurring revenue of $18 million to launch 100 new satellites every three years.

The satellites are equipped with a communication module that has a power of 14-16dBm, which is relatively low power. This allows the use of small cells that only require about 80mA during transmission.

Here is a breakdown of the number of satellites in each batch:

The satellites are designed to pass over a single point about 14 times a day, but this will be limited to the equatorial area. The constellation will offer about 5 transmission windows per day, with each window lasting around 1-2 minutes.

The Astrocast backend is built on Azure, featuring a good quality system.

You can get a quick access to the next transmission windows for a device, but it's unclear how this works for multiple devices at once.

The platform still needs some improvement, requiring many clicks to access important information.

Device details and last message received can be accessed through a specific device page.

The backend's quality is good, but it's a young platform that needs time to develop.

The GPS and GALILEO frequency used by Astrocast is 1575.42Mhz, which is between the uplink and downlink frequency, allowing them to share the patch antenna for GNSS reception.

The transmission technology used by Astrocast is designed to be energy-efficient, waking up every 17 seconds to listen for a satellite signal and going back to sleep if not detected. The device will only stay awake long enough to transmit data when a satellite is detected.

The modulation used is QPSK (4 different phases shifts are used) at a speed of 400 bps for the communications, allowing for long-distance transmissions with reduced power.

Let's take a look at the Astrocast CubeSats in reverse order. The latest launch was on January 3, 2023, with the Astrocast-0401-0404 spacecraft.

Astrocast-0401-0404 was launched into a sun-synchronous orbit with an altitude of approximately 540 km and a 97.6° inclination.

The previous launch was on November 26, 2022, with the Astrocast-0301-0304 spacecraft, which was also launched into a sun-synchronous orbit.

Astrocast-0301-0304 had an altitude of approximately 505 km and a 97.5° inclination.

Here's a list of the Astrocast CubeSats in reverse order:

The GPS and GALILEO frequency is 1575.42Mhz, which is basically in between the Uplink & Downlink frequency.

The technology allows for the sharing of a patch antenna for GNSS reception, making it a convenient solution.

The transmission technology used is designed to be low power and long distance, with a modulation of QPSK at a speed of 400 bps.

Each fragment of the payload is 30 bytes, but only 18 bytes can be used for the payload, with a CRC and a "Turbo Code" added for error checking.

Each fragment takes 1.36 seconds to transmit, and can be repeated independently if not correctly received.

A satellite pass can allow for between 10 to 40 fragments transmissions, depending on the elevation.

Using the GUI is a straightforward process that gets you sending messages quickly. The GUI tool is specifically designed for Windows 10 and requires the .NET 5.0 framework.

The GUI is simple and intuitive, allowing you to send messages without delving into the documentation. You just click on the "Queue Message" button, and the message will be sent to the module.

The module will then poll the module to get the send confirmation, ensuring that your message is successfully transmitted. The GUI will notify you once the messages are transmitted or acknowledged.

Messages are queued and transmitted when possible, thanks to the module's embedded low-energy process that wakes up regularly to check satellite synchronization. This means you can send multiple messages at once, and the module will take care of transmitting them during the next available satellite pass.

Up to 8 messages can be stored in the queue, and the module will keep them alive even if the GUI crashes or is closed. Be careful, though, as transmission windows are in UTC time, unless you specify otherwise in your profile settings.