Image credit: SpaceX
Fleet Space Technologies, a prominent Australian space exploration company based in Adelaide, has successfully deployed its next-generation Centauri-6 satellite on SpaceX’s Bandwagon-1 mission, launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Fleet Space’s Centauri-4 recently became the world’s smallest voice-enabled satellite after a demonstration of Push-To-Talk (PTT) capabilities to the Australian Defence Force Joint Capabilities Division as part of their ASCEND2LEO program.
Fleet Space’s SPIDER seismic technology will also head to the Moon to search for water ice and deliver new insights about the lunar regolith on Firefly Aerospace’s second lunar mission in 2026 as part of a NASA CLPS initiative.
Rapid global adoption of Fleet Space’s satellite-enabled mineral exploration solution, ExoSphere, has been the catalyst behind the company’s sustained innovation in space technologies and growth over the past year.
Over 40 industry leading exploration companies – including Rio Tinto, Core Lithium, and Barrick Gold – have used the technology to complete 300+ surveys for a variety of critical minerals across five continents. In 2023, Fleet Space completed a heavily oversubscribed A$50 million Series C funding round, doubled its valuation to A350$ million, and was named Australia’s fastest growing company.
Centauri-6’s addition to Fleet Space’s satellite constellation will play a vital role in servicing the global demand for its satellite-enabled mineral exploration solution, ExoSphere, while also building capacity to deliver advanced SATCOM capabilities with microsatellite architectures.
“Humanity’s expanding satellite infrastructure is rapidly unlocking new capabilities that can help to address some of the most pressing challenges facing our planet. At current rates of mineral discoveries and production, our net-zero goals and clean energy future are unattainable in the coming decades,” Flavia Tata Nardini, Co-Founder and CEO of Fleet Space, says.
Matt Pearson, Co-Founder and Chief Exploration Officer at Fleet Space, underscored the unprecedented advancement in microsatellite architectures, remarking, “Innovation in microsatellite architectures is advancing at an unprecedented rate, unlocking new capabilities across sectors at scale. The reprogrammability of our Centauri satellites enables in-orbit software updates that can deliver all-new capabilities.”
ExoSphere, Fleet Space’s flagship mineral exploration technology, combines cutting-edge satellite connectivity, edge computing, AI, and geophysics to generate 3D subsurface models of survey areas within days, with minimal environmental impact.
The patented satellite-enabled seismic sensors, Geodes, distributed across a survey area, transmit data to Fleet Space’s satellite constellation in LEO for processing, providing near real-time access to survey results worldwide. Traditionally, seismic data acquisition and processing have taken months or years, but Fleet Space’s innovative approach significantly accelerates mineral discovery, supporting the transition to clean energy.
For more information about Fleet Space technologies, head here.