Myriota co-founder Alex Grant. Source: supplied.
As the cost of launching objects into space comes down and the availability of private space launches increases, getting a satellite into space can cost half a million dollars instead of millions.
It’s also a function of size and weight. From satellites measured in tonnes, the sector has moved to kilograms. These small satellites are called ‘cubesats’, because they are built in 10cm x 10cm modules.
Cubesats have completely reshaped the economics and viability of space-enabled businesses. Space used to exclusively be the domain of governments, and the defence contractors that worked alongside them.
Now startups like Myriota, which offers satellite-linked remote communications for internet-of-things (IoT) devices, can flourish.
Its backers think the same, including CIA-adjacent venture capital fund In-Q-Tel, former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Singtel Innov8 and Boeing Horizon X, along with its lead investors Host Plus and CSIRO’s Main Sequence Ventures.
