Space Tech Is Changing Earthly Businesses
- By Lachlan Colquhoun
- October 10, 2022
Flavia Tata Nardini’s growing constellation of small satellites low orbiting in space is already impacting Earth significantly.
Nardini was born and educated in Italy, where she completed a Master’s Degree in Space Engineering. She relocated to the South Australian capital of Adelaide to become a space industry leader through her company Fleet Space Technologies.
With a mission to “connect the earth, moon and stars and unlock the power of universal connectivity” with small satellites, Fleet Space was founded in 2015 and has grown into a company with a headcount of 86 and a presence in the U.S.
“We want to create applications for this technology that creates better outcomes for people on Earth and enable our exploration of worlds beyond,” says Nardini.
Fleet has already launched seven commercial satellites. It is now working toward a fully 3D-printed satellite, Alpha, along with the rest of the company’s pioneering series of Centauri satellites.
In May 2022, Fleet launched its most recent satellite, Centauri 5, through SpaceX. This satellite used 3D-printed metal patch antennas. If the results prove successful, Fleet will use the in-house 3D printing capabilities to 3D print metal patch antennas for the growing constellation.
Speeding up discovery
Space technology always has Earthly applications, and Fleet has focused its expertise on the mining exploration industry. The company has been developing a fast and scaled 3D exploration solution to pinpoint high-value critical minerals and reduce unnecessary drilling, unveiling a service called ExoSphere.
ExoSphere technology scans the ground using an advanced seismic tomography technique called ambient noise tomography (ANT), where highly transportable devices listen to faint background vibrations from natural and man-made sources. The data is then processed rapidly and transmitted from anywhere in the world through Fleet’s constellation of low-earth orbit satellites.
“We want to create applications for this technology that creates better outcomes for people on Earth and enable our exploration of worlds beyond”
ExoSphere enhances drill program accuracy by scanning a target area with advanced, low-impact ground sensors — known as Geodes — connected through the Fleet’s low-power satellite network. The Geodes are up to ten times more sensitive than existing nodal geophones, which increases the accuracy and depth of results. Geodes are hand transportable by small teams on the surface.
Each wireless, battery-operated Geode contains a sophisticated processing unit, satellite transmitter and seismic sensor. Geodes partially process the raw information on site, reducing the data required for transmission.
The data from each Geode is rapidly processed and can deliver a full 3D visualization of the subsurface down to 2.0 km in depth. A clear, rich image of what resources may be below ground can be generated in as little as four days, and Fleet claims the technology can speed up the discovery of vital metals more than one hundred-fold.
Sustainability the goal
Flavia Tata Nardini says ExoSphere is consistent with Fleet Space’s core mission which includes sustainability.
“ExoSphere is enabling the global exploration industry to find faster, more efficient and more sustainable routes to critical minerals that will drive the transition to clean-air mobility,” she says.
“We do this by reducing the requirement for invasive drilling by scanning the ground and rapidly processing the data through our constellation of satellites. Solving problems at this scale is core to Fleet’s purpose and mission.”
Nardini says ExoSphere will play a vital role in the challenge of finding the more than USD13 trillion in critical metals the world needs to meet soaring global demand.
Contracts have been signed with over 20 customers based in North America and Australia, including Core Lithium and Oz Minerals.
U.S. company Talon Metals also became a customer in September, piloting ExoSphere at exploration projects in Minnesota and Michigan. Talon is exploring high-grade nickel deposits in the United States to supply the domestic battery supply chain with nickel and other battery materials required in the energy transition.
“Fleet’s technology has the potential to deliver two tantalizing results for geologists like our team of proven nickel hunters — speed and accuracy,” said Talon CEO Henri von Rooyen.
“Increased accuracy means less disturbance of the earth as compared to conventional exploration practices. Speed means a faster path to discovering the metallic minerals like nickel that society needs for the energy transition.”
Not all of Fleet’s applications are industry based. At its home in South Australia, the company has partnered with South Australian water authorities to build a network of more than 250 soil moisture and air temperature sensors across 17 parks.
These sensors used Fleet’s nanosatellite technology and the public network, feeding real-time temperatures to the South Australian Water website, where the public could track the coolest places to visit, and local authorities could know the best time for watering.
With the hot South Australian summer looming, residents might be able to find some relief from the heat thanks to the work of a world-leading local satellite company.
Lachlan Colquhoun is the Australia and New Zealand correspondent for CDOTrends and the NextGenConnectivity editor. He remains fascinated with how businesses reinvent themselves through digital technology to solve existing issues and change their entire business models. You can reach him at [email protected].
Image credit: iStockphoto/RonFullHD