Airbus (also known as Airbus Defence and Space) develops and manufactures various defense and space-centric technologies. With 30+ years of in-orbit operations under its belt, Airbus’s purpose is to improve life on our planet by bringing people closer through the navigation of technological breakthroughs. Supplying reliable systems which range from electronic components to full telecommunications relay platforms, developing a portfolio of scientific satellites, both in-space and on-ground infrastructure, spacecraft and much more – Airbus works on it all.
Then, Astrocast. As a global nanosatellite IoT network operator, 2014-founded Astrocast offers comprehensive, bidirectional and cost-effective satellite IoT services to tackle the global connectivity challenges currently being faced. Whether focuses lie in maritime, agribusiness, environmental pursuits, land transport or plenty of other applications, it’s Astrocast that enables companies to monitor, track and communicate with remote assets from anywhere in the world.
So, that’s the main background.
The news involving these two here is simple: An extension of the partnership between Airbus and Astrocast has been announced, particularly to enhance the capabilities of SatIoT (“Satellite Internet of Things”) technology. This also enables Astrocast to further increase its network capacity to provide even more cost-effective SatIoT solutions to customers.
Since 2017, Airbus and Astrocast have collaborated to develop communication protocol, modem software, etc. This has formed a core part of Astrocast’s wider SatIoT. So, given the success thus far, extending the partnership to enhance SatIoT just makes sense. Airbus is set to continue providing extensive support to Astrocast, specifically on QoS and bandwidth.
"Through this partnership extension, Airbus reaffirms its commitment to Astrocast's technology roadmap and its leadership in the SatIoT space. This collaboration also lays the foundation for potential convergences with the future 5G NTN IoT communications standards currently in discussion for LEO constellations,” stated François Gaullier, SVP of Telecommunications and Navigation Systems at Airbus. “In time, these enhanced capabilities for collecting and exchanging critical data with IoT assets from multiple applications will benefit users across various key industries worldwide. Astrocast is not only poised to address these challenges, its roadmap is designed to take them head on for the industry. Therefore, we're excited about working together and achieving more success.”
Fabien Jordan, CEO of Astrocast, echoed this sentiment as well.
“We’re thrilled to deepen our partnership with Airbus and leverage its unique expertise in advanced satellite IoT technology,” Jordan said. “This reinforces our commitment to continuing to provide our customers with the most reliably efficient SatIoT connectivity solutions on the market. With this support, we will further solidify Astrocast's position as the go-to satellite IoT operator.”