Satellite operator Sateliot is set for a big year after raising $14.8 million in 2023.
The company now has what it needs to pay for its constellation and to launch its first four satellites in the second quarter of 2024. But how will it succeed where other constellations have struggled, and what must the company do differently in narrowband LEO connectivity?
“In 2024, we’re going commercial,” Chief Business Officer Gianluca Redolfi tells Connectivity Business News on the latest episode of “The Dish” podcast. “We’ve contributed a lot to defining 5G standards starting in 2022, and we’re looking forward to putting it into practice. … If you want to deliver [connectivity], you need a huge constellation, both to give a lot of capacity and absolute real-time coverage.”
Barcelona-based Sateliot, which has offices in the United States, intends to be the first satellite network to follow the 3GPP Release 17 NB-IoT standard, enabling it to work with any narrowband IoT device.
Last week the company received 6 million euros ($6.52 million) through Banco Santander’s High-Growth Enterprise Program.
Opportunities in extraction
One of the markets Sateliot looks to draw from to sustain its ambitious service is the oil and gas industry.
“This [demand] is coming from areas with very little connectivity, meaning the [critical issues that can occur offshore] can be supported by bringing connectivity at a terrestrial standard at almost the same price,” Redolfi tells CBN.
Connectivity can address some of the oil and gas industry’s goals of presenting a sustainable standard.
“Digitization means efficiency,” Redolfi says, “and efficiency means better use of our global resources.”