Fleet Space Technologies, a pioneering Australian space exploration company, announced the successful orbiting of its next-generation Centauri-6 satellite as part of SpaceX‘s Bandwagon-1 mission.
This event took place at Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A in Florida, using a Falcon 9 rocket from SpaceX. SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. . Centauri-6 joins Fleet Space’s constellation of satellites, helping to serve the growing worldwide demand for its comprehensive mineral exploration solution, ExoSphere.
The contribution of the Centauri-6 satellite
Moreover, the addition of the Centauri-6 comes at a time of exponential growth and innovative advances for Fleet Space, which have opened up new possibilities in the global space sector. In addition, the company’s SPIDER seismic technology is headed to the Moon to search for water ice and provide new insights into the lunar regolith on Firefly Aerospace’s second lunar mission in 2026, as part of a NASA CLPS initiative.
The rapid increase in global adoption of Fleet Space’s solution for satellite mineral exploration, ExoSphere, has been a driver behind the company’s continued innovation and growth over the past year as it more than 40 leading exploration companies have utilized this technology to complete more than 300 critical mineral surveys on five continents.
In 2023, Fleet Space closed a Series C funding round of A$50 million, doubling its valuation to A$350 million and earning it the title of Australia’s fastest growing company.
Flavia Tata Nardini, co-founder and CEO of Fleet Space, emphasized the importance of humanity’s expanding satellite infrastructure in addressing some of the planet’s most pressing challenges.
Importantly, the Centauri-6 is distinguished by multiple enhancements that optimize its strength and durability, in addition to increasing the overall capacity of Fleet Space’s constellation of low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites to meet the growing demand for its comprehensive mineral exploration technology, ExoSphere.
This satellite also has increased uplink capacity and redundancy, allowing for more resilient data transfer from Fleet Space’s satellite-enabled seismic sensors on Earth. It is also equipped with an ionic electric propulsion system powered by solar panels and uses 3D printed components, such as the metal patch antenna that Fleet Space innovated on previous Centauri satellites.
Matt Pearson, co-founder and director of exploration at Fleet Space, highlighted innovation in microsatellite architectures and how it is opening up new capabilities in multiple sectors. The ability to reprogram Centauri satellites to receive on-orbit software updates allows for the introduction of new capabilities.
About ExoSphere technology
ExoSphere, Fleet Space’s flagship mineral exploration technology Fleet Space fuses the latest advances in satellite connectivity, peripheral computing, AI and geophysics to deliver three-dimensional subsurface models of a study area in days, with near-zero environmental impact.
To generate these models, Fleet Space’s satellite-enabled seismic sensors, called Geodes, are distributed in an array across a survey area. The data is then transmitted and processed by Fleet Space’s constellation of satellites in LEO, providing near real-time access to survey results for exploration clients around the world.
Traditionally, seismic data acquisition and processing has required months or years before it can be used in an exploration campaign. By delivering 3D subsurface models to a depth of 2.5 km in days, Fleet Space is radically reducing the time and resources needed to accelerate mineral discovery in support of the transition to clean energy.
Follow us on social networks and don’t miss any of our publications!
Inspenet.com YouTube LinkedIn Facebook Instagram X
Source: fleetspace.com
Photo: shutterstock
Loading...
