28 m | Alan Burkett Gray
US nanosatellites company Swarm Technologies launched the latest 24 satellites, using the launch pad on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula operated by Rocket Lab.
The company said after the launch that California-based Swarm now has 36 satellites in orbit.
Rocket Lab had a number of other clients at its launch, including Valve, a game software company, providing six other satellites in between.
Swarm is in the process of building a global Internet of Things (IoT) network using its satellites, which it plans to use 150 of by the end of 2021. Among its customers is a company that plans to operate a stronghold connected car services.
Once Swarm is up and running, Swarm will cost $ 119 per modem, which can be included with the hardware, then a usage fee of $ 5 per month.
Rocket Lab, with support from Bessemer Ventures and other sources, was started in California in 2006 by Peter Beck. This was the company’s first launch with a reusable missile.
“It took an enormous effort from several teams across Rocket Lab, and it is exciting to see this work paying off in a major step towards making the Electron a reusable rocket,” Beck said.
In September, Swarm used the French company Arianespace to launch 12 previous nano satellites on a single Vega rocket from French Guiana in South America.
