Astrocast
Astrocast is a Swiss satellite communications company based in Lausanne. It aims to establish a global satellite network for IoT applications.
History
Astrocast was founded in 2014[1] by EPFL alumni, and employed 70 people in 2021.[2] It launched its first five satellites in December 2018 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket,[3] and another five in June 2021.[4] It aims to operate a full network of 100 satellites by 2024.[2] Astrocast's nanosatellites are CubeSats, cubes 10 cm (3.9 in) large.[3]
Astrocast is backed by venture capital firm Adit Ventures, Airbus SE's venture arm and the European Space Agency.[5] In June 2022, Astrocast announced that it was acquiring Hiber, an Amsterdam-based IoT space tech company.[6]
Satellites launched
As of November 2024 the company has launched two test satellites and four batches of operational satellites, for a total of 20 spacecraft, of which 19 are currently in orbit around the Earth.
| Flight No. | Mission | COSPAR ID | Launch date | Launch vehicle | Orbit altitude | Inclination | Number deployed |
Deorbited |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Test satellites | ||||||||
| 1 | Astrocast 0.1 Kiwi | 2018-099AS | 3 December 2018 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | 548 km x 562 km | 97.6° | 1 | 0 |
| 2 | Astrocast 0.2 Hawaii | 2019-018F | 1 April 2019 | PSLV-QL | 1 | 1 | ||
| Operational satellites | ||||||||
| 3 | Astrocast 0101-0105 | 2021-006 | 24 January 2021 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | 521 km x 533 km | 97.4° | 5 | 0 |
| 4 | Astrocast 0201-0205 | 2021-059 | 30 June 2021 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | 510 km x 530 km | 97.6° | 5 | 0 |
| 5 | Astrocast 0301-0304 | 2022-158 | 26 November 2022 | PSLV-XL | 504 km x 517 km | 97.4° | 4 | 0 |
| 6 | Astrocast 0401-0404 | 2023-001 | 3 January 2023 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | 540 km x 550 km | 97.6° | 4 | 0 |
References
- ^ "Astrocast SA". Company register of the canton of Vaud. Archived from the original on 2021-07-09. Retrieved 2021-07-04.
- ^ a b Grundlehner, Werner (24 June 2021). "Ein Schweizer Raumfahrtunternehmen fliegt an die Börse". NZZ.
- ^ a b Malewar, Amit (2018-12-04). "Astrocast successfully launches its first satellite". Tech Explorist. Archived from the original on 2021-07-09. Retrieved 2021-07-04.
- ^ "SpaceX launches Transporter-2 Falcon 9 rideshare mission". SpaceFlight Insider. 2021-06-30. Retrieved 2021-07-04.
- ^ Caleb Henry (September 4, 2019). "Astrocast raises $9.2 million, grows target IoT constellation size to 80 satellites". Space News. Retrieved July 4, 2023.
- ^ "Hiber, an Amsterdam-based IoT space tech startup, will be acquired by Astrocast". Insider Apps. Retrieved 2022-06-07.