ASX listed Sky & Space Global (ASX: SAS), which is planning a network of nanosatellites to provide IoT connectivity, has scored a definitive agreement for the supply of connectivity services, to Latin American satellite communications service provider GlobalSat Group,
The agreement follows a number of recent announcements of MoUs by SAS with others interested in its services. However none o these were definitive.
SAS CEO Meir Moalem said the agreement with GlobalSat represented a huge milestone for the company on the path to commercialising its technology. “We have been working very closely with GlobalSat for a while now and look forward to seeing how this agreement unfolds,” he said.
However in a presentation in November S&S said it had signed a number of contracts and had $US40-$US65 million in revenue in place.
S&S is planning to launch the first batch of three of a planned 200 nanosatellites, dubbed Pearls, into a band 15-18 degrees north and south of the Equator at an altitude of 700-750kms in mid 2019.
S&S says the satellites will provide affordable voice, data, instant messaging, M2M and IoT communications. It claims services on its satellites can be as little as 20 percent of the cost of services on conventional satellites.
“SAS has developed a disruptive solution based on routers on nanosatellites coupled with unique and proprietary management software enabling autonomous deployment, orbit control, and communication between satellites,” the company said.
The agreement with GlobalSat is for an initial two year term from the date the first satellites become operational. It provides for GlobalSat to sell S&S’s narrow-band connectivity solutions and products to its customers, affiliates, resellers, subscribers and end users in Latin America.
S&S said it expected to generate revenues of $US5 million within the first two years based on conservative GlobalSat estimates.
“The Latin American market consists of 64 million people with limited or no access to mobile connectivity services, representing 10 percent of the Latin American population and symbolising strong growth potential for SAS in this region,” S&S said.
Links for solar power
SAS has also just signed a MoU with international solar power technology company Blue Power Group to provide advanced network services,
Blue Power aims to bring electricity to developing regions, where stable power supply is the most needed. It will be involved in several solar farms of 10MW in the next years, and also in health centre projects as part of UNICEF projects.
SAS and Blue Power will jointly explore how SAS’s nanosatellite connectivity can be incorporated into Blue Power’s network and used to improve its service offering for border surveillance, farms, irrigation, road lighting, radars etc, with a view to the two signing a definitive service contract.
MoU with AST
Also, in October SAS has secured a MoU with Applied Satellite Technology (AST), to explore and develop the provision of nanosatellite connectivity services.
AST provides satellite communications services to the government, mining, resilience, NGO, utilities, offshore, marine and other sectors. The company is based in the UK with offices in Singapore, Indonesia, Kenya, Australia and the USA.
Under the terms of the MoU SAS and AST will explore how SAS’s connectivity can be incorporated into AST’s network and used to improve its service offering.
