Barcelona-based satellite IoT provider Sateliot, building an NB-IoT satellite system based on Release 17 specs in the 5G NR cellular standard, is to launch four new IoT satellites this summer with SpaceX to connect nearly seven million IoT devices, it has said. Along with the two satellites the firm already has in low-earth orbit (LEO), the quartet of new launches will put it in position to bill €187 million in binding orders signed with 350 clients in over 50 countries, it claimed.
It claims a sales pipeline of more than €1 billion. The new satellites will see it launch as a commercial service for the first time, for connecting remote IoT devices. Sateliot said Spanish information technology and defense systems integrator Indra, Spanish tower company Cellnex, and Spanish public infrastructure management company Sepides, among others, are customers already. The company aims to generate €500 million in revenue by 2027 and €1 billion by 2030.
It announced a notable deal at the end of last year with UK-based freight software and analytics company t42 to deploy “thousands of 5G-IoT sensors” in shipping containers for “more than 50 logistics partners across over 50 countries”. A press statement said the shipping industry could save “up to $47 billion annually” by connecting unconnected containers on the high seas.
It has recently raised €13.5 million in a funding round, with €6 million from Banco Santander, €5 million from a convertible note, and the rest (€2.5 million) from a participative loan from Avançsa, the private equity arm of Generalitat de Catalunya. Together with a forthcoming Series B round, these funds will allow it to launch the new satellites, and also invest in technology and staff. It wants a “complete deployment of its constellation” in 2027/28, it said.
Sateliot said the satellites are “cubesats”, measuring 20 x 10 x 35 centimetres in size. It said: “They are the size of a microwave and have a net weight of 10 kilograms. They will orbit at an altitude of between 500 and 600 kilometres, have a lifespan of five years, and cover 100 percent of the planet.”
Jaume Sanpera, chief executive and co-founder at Sateliot, said: “We are ready to enter a new dimension, both technologically and commercially. We are closer to becoming the first IoT constellation operating worldwide under the 5G standard. And we will place Spain at the forefront of the new space revolution.”
