Fleet Space Announces Launch of Next Generation Centauri-5 Satellite on Space-X Falcon

“We’ve built our business and reputation by consistently delivering on our stated goals, and developing technologies that address real human and commercial needs reliably and cost-effectively. Centauri 5 will bring important new capabilities to our existing constellation. It also supports the development of our forthcoming Alpha constellation, which enables our pioneering ExoSphere by Fleet® mineral exploration tool with transformational benefits for the exploration of critical energy transition materials.”

Flavia Tata Nardini, CEO and Co-Founder, Fleet Space Technologies

Fleet Space’s Satellite Launch with SpaceX

Fleet Space Technologies announces today that it successfully launched its next-generation Centauri 5 satellite on the Space XFalcon 9 Transporter-5 mission. The launch took place at 03:57AM ACST.

This was the company’s third launch with SpaceX, following the successful deployment of Centauri 4 on the Transporter-2mission in June 2021.

Centauri 5 will be placed in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at an expected altitude of 530km (330 miles). A 6U sized microsat with a total weight of 12kg will add capacity, reduce latency and provide additional network redundancy in the existing six-strong Centauri constellation, which Fleet operates in collaboration with Tyvak International.

Fleet Space’s Improvements to Centauri 4 Satellite

Upgrades to the Centauri 4 payload includes enhancements that mitigate the effects of radiation in Low Earth Orbit (LEO),direct communication links to Fleet's ground station, and an extended S-Band range, allowing uplink at standard ground station frequencies.

Digital beamforming provides extra gain, increasing the data rate, and also allows the S-Band frequency channels to be reused on the different beams. This combination increases the satellite’s data capacity by 2.6 times. In a world first, the all-metal patch antennas are all entirely 3D printed.

The Future of Mineral Exploration

The combined constellation also enables FleetSpace’s ExoSphere by Fleet® system. This is transforming mineral exploration byusing Ambient Noise Tomography (ANT) to locate critical resources up to 100 times faster and with far less environmentalimpact than conventional methods such as explosives, vibroseis machines anddrilling.  

The Centauri 5 launch further strengthens Fleet Space’s position in the vanguard of the burgeoning Australian space technology industry, which the federal government predicts will be worth $12 billion and create an additional 20,000 jobs by 2030.