Astrocast

Astrocast is a Swiss satellite communications company based in Lausanne. It aims to establish a global satellite network for IoT applications.

History

Astrocast was founded in 2014[1] by EPFL alumni, and employed 70 people in 2021.[2] It launched its first five satellites in December 2018 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket,[3] and another five in June 2021.[4] It aims to operate a full network of 100 satellites by 2024.[2] Astrocast's nanosatellites are CubeSats, cubes 10 cm (3.9 in) large.[3]

Astrocast is backed by venture capital firm Adit Ventures, Airbus SE's venture arm and the European Space Agency.[5] In June 2022, Astrocast announced that it was acquiring Hiber, an Amsterdam-based IoT space tech company.[6]

Satellites launched

As of January 2023 the company has launched four batches of satellites, for a total of 18 spacecraft currently in orbit around the Earth.

Flight No. Mission COSPAR ID Launch date Launch vehicle Orbit altitude Inclination Number
deployed		 Deorbited
1 Astrocast 0101-0105 2021-006 24 January 2021 Falcon 9 Block 5 521 km x 533 km 97.4° 5 0
2 Astrocast 0201-0205 2021-059 30 June 2021 Falcon 9 Block 5 510 km x 530 km 97.6° 5 0
3 Astrocast 0301-0304 2022-158 26 November 2022 PSLV-XL 504 km x 517 km 97.4° 4 0
4 Astrocast 0401-0404 2023-001 3 January 2023 Falcon 9 Block 5 4 0

    References
    1. "Astrocast SA". Company register of the canton of Vaud. Archived from the original on 2021-07-09. Retrieved 2021-07-04.
    2. Grundlehner, Werner (24 June 2021). "Ein Schweizer Raumfahrtunternehmen fliegt an die Börse". NZZ.
    3. Malewar, Amit (2018-12-04). "Astrocast successfully launches its first satellite". Tech Explorist. Archived from the original on 2021-07-09. Retrieved 2021-07-04.
    4. "SpaceX launches Transporter-2 Falcon 9 rideshare mission". SpaceFlight Insider. 2021-06-30. Retrieved 2021-07-04.
    5. Caleb Henry (September 4, 2019). "Astrocast raises $9.2 million, grows target IoT constellation size to 80 satellites". Space News. Retrieved July 4, 2023.
    6. "Hiber, an Amsterdam-based IoT space tech startup, will be acquired by Astrocast". Insider Apps. Retrieved 2022-06-07.
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