OQ Technology, the world's first and only satellite operator of a 5G NB-IoT constellation, has announced plans to grow its LEO (Low Earth Orbit) Satellite Constellation from three to ten, a move which makes the company into the largest 5G NB-IoT (Narrow Band - Internet of Things) satellite operator in the world.
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To Add Seven New Satellites
The planned addition of seven new satellites includes the previously announced MACSAT and PHI-Demo satellites and five additional 6U nanosatellites, Tiger-4 to Tiger-8, which the company has already ordered. After the launch of the first batch, the remaining satellite launches are scheduled to take place this year. The final launches are subject to launch conditions but may be completed and put into orbit in early 2024.
Significant Capacity Increase
With the new satellites, OQ Technology will significantly increase its 5G NB-IoT non-terrestrial networks (NTN) satellite connectivity service based on 3GPP Release-17. This satellite increase will increase the global coverage and satellites' revising times to multiple times per day, resulting in terminals with more capacity and real-time information transmission.
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Satellite Manufacturers
According to a statement, three of the satellites, Tiger-4, Tiger-7 and Tiger-8, will be built by Lithuanian mission integrator and bus manufacturer Kongsberg NanoAvionics who also built Tiger-2, Tiger-3, and MACSAT.
Satellite manufacturer Space Inventor from Denmark will build Tiger-5 and Tiger-6. The 5G NB-IoT payloads will be provided by OQ Technology and integrated into these platforms. OQ Technology will also operate the satellite constellation and manage the ground network, service, spectrum access and licensing.
5G NB-IoT Connectivity
5G NB-IoT connectivity service from OQ Technology enables companies to connect devices for smart applications such as metering, agriculture, asset tracking, vehicle telematics etc. The company says its constellation provides global connectivity in remote regions.
