Communications

KINEIS-3C

IoT communications · Kinéis

Kinéis-3C is one of five satellites from a French Internet-of-Things startup with an unusually clean origin story: it was spun off from the French space agency CNES specifically to modernize Argos, the venerable satellite-tracking system that scientists and sailors have relied on since 1978. Launched November 4, 2024 aboard a Rocket Lab Electron from Mahia, New Zealand — on a mission named 'Kinéis Killed The RadIoT Star' — this satellite is part of the third of five dedicated Electron launches deploying Kinéis's full 25-satellite constellation. Each 28-kilogram nanosatellite carries electric propulsion powered by its own solar panels and flies in a low 400-mile orbit chosen specifically to shrink the time between observations of the same ground location from roughly three hours, typical of the old Argos system, down to around ten minutes. That's the entire commercial pitch: near-real-time tracking of connected objects anywhere on the planet, at low power and low cost, for use cases spanning wildlife tracking, maritime shipping, and environmental monitoring — the kind of continuity-focused iteration of an established scientific system that quietly outlives most flashier space startups.