Australia’s Fleet Space Technologies has successfully launched its Centauri-6 satellite into space via a SpaceX Falcon 9 reusable rocket, which will complement its satellite constellation to help service the global demand for ExoSphere, its mineral exploration solution that is capable of delivering 3D subsurface imaging and AI-powered insights within days. The deployment will also help build capacity to deliver advanced SATCOM capabilities with microsatellite architectures.
ExoSphere has been credited for accelerating the company’s sustained innovation and growth over the past year, with over 40 exploration companies using the integrated space technology to complete surveys for critical minerals across five continents.
Centauri-6 has greater uplink capacity and redundancy to enable more resilient data transfer from Fleet Space’s satellite-enabled seismic sensors on the ground. The satellite has also been designed with an ion electric propulsion system powered by solar panels to provide thrust in the vacuum of space. Centauri-6’s design also leverages 3D-printed components, including the 3D-printed metal patch antenna Fleet Space pioneered on earlier Centauri satellites.
ExoSphere combines the latest advances in satellite connectivity, AI and geophysics to deliver 3D subsurface models of a survey area in just days with near-zero environmental impact. The 3D models are made possible by Fleet Space’s patented satellite-enabled seismic sensors called Geodes which are distributed into an array across a survey area. The data is then transmitted and processed by Fleet Space’s satellite constellation in LEO to provide almost real-time access to survey results.
IMAGE: Fleet Space Technologies
Last month, Fleet Space was named an industrial affiliate of Stanford University’s Mineral-X programme. The collaboration will see Fleet Space conducting joint research on technological innovation to accelerate sustainable mineral discovery in support of the global clean energy transition. The research will be focused on the optimisation of drill targeting using satellite connectivity and space-enabled geophysical sensors to deliver real-time subsurface insight at scale, which is crucial for increasing the accuracy, efficiency and speed of exploration campaigns globally.
“Fleet Space is on the forefront of advancing global efforts to leverage advanced space technology as an indispensable tool for accelerating our planet’s transition to renewable energy,” said Flavia Tata Nardini, co-founder and CEO of Fleet Space. “The exploration technologies we’ve built at Fleet Space, enabled by our proprietary satellite constellation, represent a more sustainable and scalable path to increase the supply of energy transition minerals needed to achieve net-zero.”
“The global challenges of decarbonisation, supply chain complexity, and the critical mineral shortage require a sustained and collective commitment to innovation to deliver the energy transition our planet so desperately needs,” said Dr. Jef Caers, PHD, Professor of Earth Sciences at Stanford and founder of Mineral-X. “We are thrilled to work with Fleet Space to accelerate the development of a resilient supply chain for the minerals needed for clean energy innovation globally. The technology developed by Fleet Space provides critical innovations in geophysical imaging needed to map orebodies with an accuracy not possible with current air-borne and surface methods.”
The successful launch of Centauri-6 is the latest development from Fleet Space after a period of exponential growth and innovative breakthroughs unlocking new capabilities in the global space sector.
Fleet Space’s SPIDER seismic technology will also be heading 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.
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