Airbus and Astrocast extend contract for Satellite IoT

UK aerospace and defence company Airbus has extended their contract with Satellite Internet of Things (SatIoT) operator Astrocast. The partnership was first established in 2017 with the desire to enhance the capabilities of Astrocast’s network capacity to provide more reliable and financially viable SatIot commercial services. Astrocast said: “in recent years, the collaboration between Airbus and Astrocast has been instrumental.” And in 2022, the Swiss SatIoT company commercially launched and has grown exponentially, signing ‘multi-million dollar’ commercial contracts and winning awards, leading to a contract extension with Airbus.

Fabien Jordan, CEO of Astrocast, said in a press release:

“we are thrilled to deepen our partnership with Airbus and leverage its unique expertise in advanced satellite IoT technology. This collaboration reinforces our commitment to continuing to provide our customers with the most reliable and efficient SatIoT connectivity solutions on the market. With Airbus’s support, we will further solidify Astrocast’s position as the go-to satellite IoT operator.”

Airbus & Astrocast’s Collaboration on SatIoT

The companies have been collaborating since 2017. According to Astrocast, this partnership has enabled them to develop its “communication protocol and modem software stack more effectively.” Now, after inking a contract extension this year, Airbus is focusing on augmenting Astrocast’s bandwidth and quality of service.  

François Gaullier, SVP Telecommunications and Navigation Systems at Airbus Defence and Space, said: “through this partnership extension, Airbus reaffirms its commitment to Astrocast’s technology roadmap and its leadership in the SatIoT space.”

Projections For The Future & Industry Growth

Significant growth is on the horizon as more satellite constellations become operational, leading to more reliance on SatIoT Services. The market is expected to grow from US$900 million in 2022 to US$5 billion by 2032 at a compound annual growth rate of 20% from 2023 to 2032. To capitalise on this growth rate and reliance on SatIoT, both Airbus and Astrocast are looking to improve their data transmission capacity. They will also decrease latency while increasing security.  

Gaining Market Recognition 

The Airbus and Astrocast partnership has already engendered an uptake in their services. These customers include the EU’s CiRROCCO initiative and XGain initiative. They also service Avirtech, Digitanimal, and Arrowsport and have previously signed a launch agreement with ISAR. “Through this partnership with Airbus, Astrocast expects to continue capitalising on their shared technological successes and further enhance SatIoT Bandwidth and Quality of Service for all customers,” The Swiss native SatIoT company said.