France’s first industrial nanosatellite Angels is opening up its services to current users and offering IoT players premium access to this new connectivity. Angels is five times more powerful and 10 times smaller than its predecessors.
The satellite has been designed to address the current challenges of New Space: miniaturisation, scaled-up performance and very low consumption. Angels gives access to opportunities provided by Kinéis, the first constellation of European nanosatellites dedicated to IoT.
The addition of Angels to the ARGOS satellite fleet offers new data collection capabilities. Carrying an ARGOS instrument, Angels is supported by CNES and manufacturers such as Thales Alenia Space, Hemeria and Syrlinks.
Transmitters on the ground can reach Angels satellite with a transmission power of just 100 mW, about a fifth of the power needed by current ARGOS transmitters.
It also provides access to a new frequency band, boosting the capabilities of the seven satellites in the current system. These innovations will enable users to extend the battery life of their transmitters and reduce their size and weight.
Benoit Broudy, Vice President of the Navigation business at Thales Alenia Space in France, said: “We are proud to have supplied the ARGOS Neo instrument, and of its successful commissioning on Angels. It represents an important milestone in Thales Alenia Space’s New Space and innovation approach. The ARGOS system is the global benchmark in satellite location and data collection. Instrument miniaturisation offers new spaceflight solutions such as nanosatellite constellations and creates new opportunities in satellite navigation and the Internet of Things. We are happy to share the success of the Angels mission, which should spur the development of a French nanosatellite sector to address the booming New Space market.”
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