Kineis

Kinéis is a French satellite operator and global connection provider. The company offers IoT connectivity via their space satellites, via an arrangement of three deployable antennas on a nanosatellite.

The company was founded in 2019 by the French Space Agency (CNES) and Collecte, Localisation, Satellites (CLS) in order to open up ARGOS technology and expand the IoT market. Kineis is a spinout from aeronautics company CLS, which holds a 32% ownership stake, in order to focus on IoT connectivity. CLS is a subsidiary of the French Space Agency and CNP Technologies.

Kinéis currently operates eight satellites in orbit from the pre-existing ARGOS system and has plans to launch an additional seventeen satellites into the constellation by 2022.The satellites weigh about sixty-five pounds.

The satellite antennas offer bi-directional IoT and build upon the groundwork of the ARGOS system, connecting ground transmission data to satellite transmitters. The main antenna is capable of receiving weak signals at 150 mW from the ground at a range of 2,500 kilometers and can transmit simultaneously in the same UHF frequency band with a power of 1W. This main antenna controls the satellite, saves on-board equipment, and can be compacted to a quarter of its length during launch. The expansion mechanism was developed via research work in conjunction with CNES and Comat.

In addition to the main antenna, the satellites carry an S-band antenna developed by Cobham, which are used for transmitting data to ground stations. These antennas are small in size and superimposed on each other in order to reduce interference and reception latency.

A number of Kinéis satellites also provide Automated Identification System (AIS) signal collection and offer maritime traffic observation on the third VHF band antenna, which was developed by Thales Alenia Space. The three antennas were tested by CNES equipment with a platform model developed by HEMERIA.