Latin America and the LoRaWAN world have gained a new satellite company. Innova Space will built and launch up to 100 pico satellite PocketQubes to provide LoRaWAN connectivity.
“We will be the only company in Latin America that will design and manufacture Pico Satellites PocketQube,” tweeted Innova Space CEO Alejandro Cordero. “With our First Satellite MDQube-SAT1 we will provide LORAWAN connectivity, for future IOT applications.”
Launch of MDQube-SAT is expected in the second quarter of 2021 and Innova Space has a staff of 10 developers at present. The company is currently seeking funding for building and launching its 100 picosat constellation. Other information is sparse, with the Innova Space website simply a landing page with a logo on the morning of January 28. Cordero expects to have more information available shortly.
The LoRaWAN satellite sector is getting more crowded every month. At CES 2020, Semtech said there were several companies planning to use satellite for LoRaWAN servicing. Companies working with LoRaWAN using a gateway include Hiber and Fleet Space Technologies while Lacuna Space and Fossa Systems bypass additional hardware and communicate with LoRaWAN devices directly from satellite.
The PocketQube standard was created by Alba Orbital to build small functional satellites smaller than the 10 x 10 x 10 cm CubeSat standard. Fossa System’s satellite is 50 x 50 x 50 millimeters in size.
But LoRaWAN isn’t without its critics. IOActive Research just released a white paper detailing cybersecurity vulnerabilities of the protocol while Fossa Systems has had difficulties talking to some LoRaWAN devices due to version protocol incompatibilities.
