Rennes, 14th January 2022 – this fifth deployment marks another step towards the goal of 20 to 25 satellites in orbit for the European leader in satellite-based geolocation of ships at sea by 2025. On Thursday, 13th January, at 15:25 UTC, SpaceX’s launch vehicle put bro-5 (breizh reconnaissance orbiter-5) into orbit at an altitude of 550 kilometres via the SpaceX transporter-3 mission on Falcon 9 launcher.
This fifth launch is a real affirmation of the durability of the Unseenlabs constellation and allows the European leader to further expand its services internationally, in part by reducing its revisit time at each launch. This success enables the french company to start the year 2022 by continuing its growth and innovation through the increase of its service quality.
This fifth deployment, the second in just five months, is a demonstration of Unseenlabs’ expansion dynamic. It is part of the french space strategy, within the France 2030 plan, mentioned by Bruno Le Maire, minister of economy, finance and recovery, last December.
“The deployment of BRO-5 enables us to strengthen our international activities and to reaffirm the place of our constellation as the most developed in the field of RF interception from space. By pursuing innovation and increasing the quality of our service, it is part of the French space strategy of the France 2030 plan, mentioned by Bruno Le Maire, Minister of Economy, Finance and Recovery, in Vernon on December 6,”
said Clément Galic, CEO and co-founder of Unseenlabs a few days before the launch.
“After a successful year in 2021 for Unseenlabs, both in terms of new collaborations and the launch of a fourth satellite – BRO-4 – on August 16 with Arianespace, we intend to continue this trend in 2022. We are proud to carry out the first launch of the year, which comes in a promising context for the development of our business,”
added Jonathan Galic, Chief Technology Officer and co-founder of Unseenlabs.
A pioneering company in the french newspace industry since 2015, Unseenlabs deployed its first nanosatellite in august 2019. From then on, the company was able to provide rf geolocation data of ships at sea to its customers. In April 2021, Unseenlabs announced a €27 million fundraising round to continue its growth.
The company will also continue to increase its workforce, which is already around thirty employees, to support this hypergrowth phase and the launches planned for this year.
About Unseenlabs
Created in 2015, Unseenlabs is an innovative company of French origin and a European leader in satellite RF geolocation of ships at sea. Its proprietary onboard satellite technology is capable of geolocating any vessel at sea, in near-real time, to within a kilometre, from a single nanosatellite. Unseenlabs supplies a wide range of maritime stakeholders with accurate, up-to-date data on vessel positions, providing better tracking of activities at sea. Whether meeting the data needs of maritime companies or assisting institutions and organisations in the fight against unlawful and anti-environmental behaviour, such as illegal fishing or dumping of hydrocarbons, the Unseenlabs service is intended as a solution that serves the oceans.
Copyright 2023 All rights reserved.