FOSSA
TypePrivate
IndustryIoT, connectivity, spacecraft design, telecommunications
Founded2020[1]
Headquarters
Madrid
,
Spain
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Julián Fernandez Barcellona, Vicente Gonzalez Negro, Sergio Sarasola[2]
ServicesNanosatellites, Satellite Connectivity, IoT Solutions
Number of employees
24 (as of January 17, 2023)[3]
Websitehttps://fossa.systems/

FOSSA Systems is a company based in Madrid, Spain, specializing in satellite manufacturing and IoT solutions. Their services include space-related technologies and solutions for IoT applications. The company operates within the European market.[4]

FOSSA offers worldwide IoT satellite connectivity and satellite space services for industrial properties with their assets in outlying regions.[5]

Business

FOSSA Systems builds pico, and nanosatellites launched into Low-Earth Orbit (LEO). Their LEO satellites carry IoT receivers and other payloads, such as SDRs (Software Defined Radios), which can act as IoT cell phone towers from Space.

FOSSA System's picosatellites provide IoT (The Internet of Things) to remote areas without mobile coverage for low-wattage devices.[6] These satellite communication services are commercialized by FOSSA as Software as a Service (SaaS) for IoT solutions or sold as dedicated satellites and ad-hoc projects.[7]

The company's solution has applications in monitoring and tracking millions of assets in logistics, linear infrastructure, utilities, or agriculture in remote areas with connectivity issues or as a unified mass IoT system.[8]

A scientist holding a PicoSatellite with gloves on after creating it.
Fossa Systems 2022 PicoSatellite

The company plans to deploy a constellation of 80 satellites by 2024 and has four more spacecraft scheduled for launch in 2023.[9]

FOSSA also manufactures ground stations for operating their constellation and currently has two installed, one in La Linea, Spain, and one in Madrid, Spain.[10] FOSSA satellites receive messages from Space through their sensors and send the gained information to the ground stations on Earth. The sensors and ground stations use LoRa Technology to communicate.[11]

History

2018-2019

FOSSA Systems was initially founded as a non-profit project youth association in 2018 by 16-year-old Julián Fernandez to democratize access to space and the mass adoption of IoT.[12] In 2019, they launched the first Spanish picosatellite FOSSASAT-1, which has a size of 5x5x5cm and a mass of 250g, to demonstrate their LoRa IoT Concept.[13]

FOSSA Systems has made contributions to open-sourcing satellite software and hardware, which can be found on their GitHub.[14][15]

2020-2023

A protype of a satellite on a tripod in the middle of the desert getting signal from space.
Fossa Systems Prototype Satellite. The IoT Node communicates as a gateway for smaller capacity sensors in space. It sends and receives IoT data to and from space.

Fossa Systems S.L. was officially founded in Spain on July 13, 2020, by Julián Fernández (CEO) and Vicente González (CTO).[16] They noticed the need for a hardware manufacturer that provided remote IoT connectivity, so they created FOSSA Systems to offer affordable worldwide internet connections to those who need it.[17] The company grew organically to 6 employees and €160,000 in sales before raising €765,000 in seed funding from their investors, WISeKey (a Swiss cybersecurity company), and Newmind Venture (A venture capital firm in Spain), in early 2021.[18]

The company has signed agreements to launch satellites for Platzi,[19] WISeKey,[20] and others since its foundation.

In 2021, the company closed its first financing round in 2021 with over 1M in revenue since its foundation.[3]

FOSSA received a €318,000 NEOTEC project grant from the CDTI in 2022[21] to develop an earth-observation and IoT satellite platform.

In May 2023, FOSSA announced in partnership with WISeKey, it will be launching several new WISeSat-Ready FOSSA-powered satellites with SpaceX. These launches will add to the 13 FOSSA satellites currently in orbit. The satellites are set to be part of the 80-satellite constellation plan by FOSSA, with the goal of providing IoT connectivity in real time for industrial applications. The launch is set to be carried out by SpaceX on the Falcon 9 Vehicle in June 2023.[22]

Launches and Satellite Fleet

Small PicoSatellites lined up on a white table in a lab.
Fossa Systems PicoSatellites receive up to 400,000 messages per day.

FOSSA systems built the first Spanish picosatellite FOSSASat-1, launched in December 2019 aboard an Electron rocket. The satellite transmitted LoRa & RTTY messages to amateurs worldwide.[12] In 2021, FOSSASat-1B and FOSSASat-2 were launched aboard a Firefly Alpha Rocket as part of the PICOBUS mission. The mission failed to reach orbit and was later successfully launched in 2022.[23]

In January 2022, FOSSA launched 6x FOSSASat-2E satellites on board a Falcon-9 rocket to provide IoT services and other earth observation and edge-computing experiments.[24]

In May 2022, FOSSA launched seven PocketQubes[25] called FOSSASat-2E x7, which are picosatellites that provide global IoT connectivity services. The seven satellites were on board a Momentus OTV (orbital transfer vehicle), amongst 52 others, flying on a Space X Falcon-9 ridesharing rocket.[26]

In June 2023, FOSSA launched 4 FEROX satellites using a 6U form factor split into 4 sections aboard a SpaceX Falcon-9 mission (Transporter-8).[27]

See also

In 2022, FOSSA Systems was the European company to launch the most nanosatellites into space (satellites under 1 kg), totalling 13 through two SpaceX Transporter Missions.[28]

References

  1. ↑ "Fossa Systems". SkyBrokers. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
  2. ↑ Molina, Ana, and Valeria Ruggiu. “Fossa Systems, by Julián Fernández, Wins the Award for Best Startup at the D+I Innovation Awards.” Area - Campo De Gibraltar, 11 Nov. 2022, https://www.diarioarea.com/2022/11/11/fossa-systems-de-julian-fernandez-premio-a-la-mejor-startup-en-los-di-innovation-awards/. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
  3. 1 2 Rainbow, Jason. “Spanish Startup to Upgrade Tiny Satellites to Take on Global IoT Market.” SPACE NEWS, 17 Jan. 2023, https://spacenews.com/spanish-startup-to-upgrade-tiny-satellites-to-take-on-global-iot-market/. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
  4. ↑ Lin, Sharon. "SPAIN'S FIRST OPEN SOURCE SATELLITE". HACKADAY. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
  5. ↑ Gonzalez, Manuel. "Top 15. The most promising startups in the Aerospace sector in Spain in 2022". elreferente. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
  6. ↑ “FOSSA Systems IoT Smallsat Launch Accomplishment.” Satnews, 20 Jan. 2022, https://news.satnews.com/2022/01/20/fossa-systems-iot-smallsat-launch-accomplishment/. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
  7. ↑ "WISeKey And FOSSA Systems Present WISeSat At The International Cybersecurity Forum (FIC) For Delivering Secure And Global, Satellite IoT Connectivity". Aithority. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
  8. ↑ Weimann, Christine. "#WorldIPDay – FOSSA Systems: a young company conquering space to provide connectivity to remote areas". abg Intellectual Property. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
  9. ↑ “Momentus to Fly FOSSA Systems PocketPod.” Business Wire, 7 Feb. 2023, https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230206005706/en/Momentus-to-Fly-FOSSA-Systems-PocketPod. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
  10. ↑ Zato, Lola. “WISeKey Completes the Installation, in La Línea De La Concepción, of the First WISeSATS Satellite Station in Cooperation with FOSSA Systems.” WISeKey, 22 Dec. 2021, https://www.wisekey.com/press/wisekey-completes-the-installation-in-la-linea-de-la-concepcion-of-the-first-wisesats-satellite-station-in-cooperation-with-fossa-systems/. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
  11. ↑ "FOSSA Systems and Momentus to launch nine PocketQube satellites together". GeoSpatial World. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  12. 1 2 Allan, Alasdair. “FossaSat-1, an Open Source Satellite for the Internet of Things.” Hackster.io, 2019, https://www.hackster.io/news/fossasat-1-an-open-source-satellite-for-the-internet-of-things-7f31cab00ef5. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
  13. ↑ Krebs, Gunter D. “FossaSat 1, 1b”. Gunter's Space Page. https://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/fossasat-1.htm. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
  14. ↑ “FossaSat-1.” GitHub, 9 Dec. 2019, https://github.com/FOSSASystems/FOSSASAT-1. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
  15. ↑ “FOSSASAT-2.” GitHub, 22 Aug. 2021, https://github.com/FOSSASystems/FOSSASAT-2. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
  16. ↑ “Suppliers- Fossa Systems.” Sky Brokers, https://sky-brokers.com/supplier/fossa-systems/. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
  17. ↑ "The Open-Source Revolution in Outer Space". Medium. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
  18. ↑ "FOSSA Systems X Europe Startup Interview". X Europe. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  19. ↑ Forbes Staff. “The Colombian Startup Platzi Announced That It Will Launch a Satellite into Space.” Forbes Colombia, 29 Apr. 2019, https://forbes.co/2022/04/29/tecnologia/la-startup-colombiana-platzi-anuncio-que-lanzara-un-satelite-al-espacio. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
  20. ↑ “WISeKey Successfully Launched Its First IoT Picosatellites WISeSat–1 and WISeSat–2 on January 13th with SpaceX Transporter 3 Rideshare Mission Aboard a Falcon 9 Vehicle.” WISeKey, 13 Jan. 2022, https://www.globenewswire.com/en/news-release/2022/01/13/2366746/0/en/WISeKey-successfully-launched-its-First-IoT-Picosatellites-WISeSat-1-and-WISeSat-2-on-January-13th-with-SpaceX-Transporter-3-Rideshare-Mission-Aboard-a-Falcon-9-Vehicle.html. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
  21. ↑ “RESOLUCIÓN DEFINITIVA DE LA PRESIDENCIA DEL CDTI DE LA CONVOCATORIA DEL PROGRAMA NEOTEC DEL AÑO 2021.” NextGenerationEU. https://www.cdti.es/recursos/doc/Programas/Financiacion_CDTI/Subvenciones_NEOTEC/NEOTEC_2021/13118_2512512022144611.pdf.Retrieved March 21, 2023.
  22. ↑ "WISeKey and FOSSA Systems to Launch New WISeSat-Ready Satellites with SpaceX". Yahoo Finance. 2023-05-19. Retrieved 2023-05-24.
  23. ↑ “PAST MISSION FLTA001 DREAM Firefly’s 1st Test Flight.” FireFly Space, https://fireflyspace.com/missions/flta001-dream/. Retrieved March 20, 2023. “PAST MISSION FLTA002 To The Black Firefly’s 1st Orbital Launch.” FireFly Space, https://fireflyspace.com/missions/flta002-to-the-black/. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
  24. ↑ Kramer, Herbert J. “Transporter-3.” EoPortal, 18 Jan. 2022, https://www.eoportal.org/other-space-activities/transporter-3#transporter-3--third-rideshare-mission-of-spacex. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
  25. ↑ Krebs, Gunter D. "PocketQube". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
  26. ↑ Kramer, Herbert J. “Transporter-5.” EoPortal, 27 May 2022, https://www.eoportal.org/other-space-activities/transporter-5#exolaunch-payloads. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
  27. ↑ SatNews “FEROX”, 27 May 2022, https://news.satnews.com/2023/06/14/fossa-systems-launches-their-nexgen-iot-satellites/. Retrieved August 24, 2023.
  28. ↑ "Momentus to Fly FOSSA Systems PocketPod". businesswire. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
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