South Australia’s first state satellite has completed its Critical Design Review (CDR), bringing it closer to delivering tangible data solutions.
This marks an important milestone for Kanyini, the satellite of the South Australian Space Services Mission.
The project team is also finalizing the design of the 6U spacecraft with integrated payloads, and production and testing phases have begun.
Inovor Technologies is responsible for the design and construction of Kanyini, with founder and CEO Dr. Matthew Tetlow saying the success of the CDR gave the green light to the project’s next phase.
“The successful CDR, this confidence in the spacecraft design, is a boost as we move towards the next big milestone of testing and integrating the payloads into the satellite that will provide services to the government of South Australia, said Dr. Tetlow. †
“The process of building a spacecraft with our project partners is dynamic; the mission has a complex payload suite that has allowed our team to be innovative and creative in developing solutions to meet the mission requirements.
“We have all risen to the challenge; kudos to all involved.”
A research project conducted through the SmartSat CRC has already demonstrated reliable, cost-effective monitoring of the Department of Environment’s network of groundwater wells through the Internet of Things and nanosatellite telecommunications.
The research project, conducted by FrontierSI, Myriota, Uni SA, NGIS Australia, and Department for Environment and Water, has developed an end-to-end solution for transmitting and grouping automatically collected information from wells in rural and regional South Australia, with a focus on environmental water monitoring.
This technology will be used aboard Kanyini.
FrontierSI Deputy CEO Phillip Delaney confirmed the project’s success and praised the partnership between the South Australian Government and SmartSat CRC.
“We have been working closely with Myriota, UniSA, NGIS Australia, and the Department for Environment and Water over the past two years to demonstrate the transformative use of the Internet of Things and nanosatellite communications to improve monitoring and management of groundwater wells amid troubling times. The environment of remote Australia,” says Delaney.
“This project has provided a wealth of groundwater information, converting groundwater updates into data points once a year, several times a day.
“This will be critical for underpinning decision-making, responding to events, and understanding the effects of developments on the entire groundwater network.”
“Importantly, as many of these sites are located in harsh, remote environments, significant security benefits are achieved by reducing the number of times these sites need to be visited.”
“All these benefits would not be possible without this communication technology with room for transformation.
“Congratulations to the South Australian Government, the SIGWater project team, and SmartSat CRC for their collaboration and belief in this innovative body of work.”
Most groundwater in Australia is a primary source of drinking water for many regional townships and is heavily used in the agriculture, mining, and energy sectors.
This means that the project can drastically optimize groundwater, reduce staff field time and increase the availability of groundwater information.
Andy Koronios, CEO of SmartSat CRC, said the state’s investment in Kanyini allows researchers to develop real-world technology based on their research, which also benefits a wide range of stakeholders.
“We are committed to developing satellite IoT connectivity technologies that help solve some of the biggest challenges facing Australian industries, including water security for our environment, community, and economy,” said Koronios.
“With more than a third of the world’s largest groundwater systems already in distress, this project will put Australia in the pole position to be a global leader in groundwater management and apply the solution locally and abroad. It’s great to know that we can bring this technology into space aboard a sovereign satellite like Kanyini.”
“The data collected by this satellite will help advance valuable research in satellite technology. We continue to look at new projects that will provide services to the South Australian government.”
As IoT leader for the mission, Myriota co-founder and chief technology officer Dr. David Haley conceded that the data collected would significantly benefit users here on Earth.
“The success of the Kanyini Critical Design Review marks the beginning of a new program phase in which the Myriota and Inovor teams will proceed with the assembly, integration, and testing of the spacecraft and its two payloads,” said Dr. Haley.
“The payload from the Internet of Things will be added to the Myriota network, collecting data from devices and sensors on the Earth’s surface, in conjunction with hyperspectral imaging collected from the payload from Earth observation to provide a wide range of applications, including helping farmers monitor water levels so they can more accurately predict future crop yields and supporting emergency services personnel to monitor, manage and mitigate emergencies such as wildfires.”
