Start-up allegedly establishes connection between Bluetooth device and satellite

A start-up from the USA has allegedly succeeded in establishing a Bluetooth connection to a satellite for the first time. As the company called Hubble Network has now made public, two self-developed satellites were sent into space at the beginning of March, to which a standard Bluetooth chip later established a connection. The start-up puts the distance covered at 600 km. As TechCrunch writes, this performance is based, among other things, on the satellites' special antennas, which function like a kind of magnifying signal and bundle the incoming Bluetooth signals. In future, conventional Bluetooth devices will be able to communicate with satellites with a simple software update.

Several hours of satellite contact per day

The successful pilot test has laid the foundation for revolutionizing the Internet of Things, writes Hubble Network. Five billion Bluetooth devices are sold every year, and the new connectivity could have "monumental" consequences. According to TechCrunch, the start-up plans to send two more satellites into space in the summer using SpaceX rockets to set up an initial constellation. The first customers are reportedly already starting to carry out tests. By the end of 2025, 32 satellites are to be launched, which would enable connected devices from anywhere in the world to connect to satellites via Bluetooth for around two to three hours per day.

Hubble Network does not provide any details on the technology used, but several hurdles had to be overcome to achieve success. According to TechCrunch, the special antennas on board the satellites are central to the immense range that has now been bridged. As Hubble Network explained a year ago, they not only amplify the signals, but also enable many connections to be established simultaneously. However, problems relating to the Doppler effect and the immense speed at which the satellites move from the perspective of the Bluetooth devices had to be solved.

The success now announced is just the beginning, writes Hubble Network. The goal is a secure, cost-effective and low-power global network in which one billion devices are to be connected. This will not only involve devices from end consumers; the start-up also sees the agricultural industry, the construction sector, infrastructure, supply chains, logistics, oil and gas production and the military as obvious customers. If you can actually offer a global connection with 20 times lower power consumption and 50 times lower operating expenses, that is not an improvement, but a transformation.

(mho)