Kinéis
Kinéis is a French space company and satellite operator specializing in global connectivity for the Internet of Things (IoT). As a satellite operator, they provide services for tracking, monitoring, and data collection from connected objects around the world using a constellation of 25 nanosatellites. Kinéis operates for various sectors including environmental monitoring, agriculture, infrastructure management, and maritime activities, and works with partners like Thales Alenia Space, CNES, and STMicroelectronics. Their services are built upon the legacy of the ARGOS system, supporting scientific and environmental applications with organizations such as NOAA and NASA.
All verified mentions of this organization in source documents.
Kinéis selected bus supplier Hemeria and payload provider Thales Alenia Space to build 25 cubesats partly because both firms are about a 20-minute drive from Kinéis headquarters near Toulouse, France.
Hemeria will build Kinéis’s satellites with payloads supplied by Thales Alenia Space.
Collecte Localisation Satellites (CLS) led the 100,000,000 EUR funding round for Kinéis.
Kinéis will deploy a constellation of 25 satellites built as 16-unit cubesats.
Kinéis selected Thales Alenia Space to build 20 ground stations that will use flat electronically steered antennas to connect to the constellation.
Kinéis plans to launch its 16-unit cubesats in groups of five during the second half of 2022, with service starting early in 2023.
Kinéis has one final Argos hosted payload awaiting launch on India’s Oceansat-3 satellite in mid-2020 through a partnership with the Indian Space Research Organisation.
The 100,000,000 EUR financing for Kinéis is all equity-based and fully funds the buildout of the company’s constellation, including manufacturing, launch, ground infrastructure, and insurance.
The SPI fund, managed by Bpifrance and the European Investment Bank, participated in Kinéis’s 100,000,000 EUR funding round.
Kinéis raised 100,000,000 EUR from private and public investors to fund a constellation of 25 cubesats.
Several NewSpace Factory companies are poised to supply parts to Kineis for its planned constellation.
Kinéis reduced the projected cost of its constellation from 120,000,000 EUR to 100,000,000 EUR.
Kinéis increased the constellation size by five satellites to a total of 25 satellites because building and launching 25 together was more cost effective than staging a later batch.
Kinéis and its manufacturing partners finalized the constellation design and prepared to start production on 2019-06-21.
Kinéis plans two additional Argos payloads before fielding its smallsat constellation: a 12-unit cubesat called ANGELS and a hosted payload on India’s Oceansat-3 satellite.
CLS is creating a spinoff company called Kineis to raise money from investors for its smallsat constellation and related services.
Kineis expects to complete a study contract with Thales Alenia Space next month that will lead to a contract to integrate the satellites.
Kineis’ satellites are designed to operate for four years in 600-kilometer orbits and will have propulsion.
CLS is transferring responsibility for maritime IoT services for nearly 20,000 vessels connected through the CNES-built hosted payload network Argos to Kineis.