Myriota has announced an agreement with ISILAUNCH to send Kanyini into orbit. Under the Launch Services Agreement, Myriota has booked a spot for South Australia’s home-grown satellite to blast off on a SpaceX Transporter mission in 2023.
The word Kanyini is a Pitjantjatjara term describing the “principle of responsibility and unconditional love for all of creation”. In the spirit of its namesake, satellite Kanyini will help take care of Australians and the environment by improving bushfire preparedness, response and resilience and monitoring inland and coastal water qualities.
The spacecraft is being designed and built in a collaboration between local leaders of the space industry: Myriota, Inovor Technologies, the SmartSat Cooperative Research Centre and the South Australian Government.
Dr David Haley, co-founder and CTO of Myriota said, “This is an exciting next step for this ground-breaking South Australian space services mission which is set to benefit the State when it launches next year. The IoT payload will add to the Myriota Network, communicating with devices and sensors on the Earth’s surface, working together with hyperspectral imaging collected from the earth observation payload to enable a wide array of applications. Kanyini will provide access to critical data anywhere and everywhere it’s needed to help improve and monitor water quality, crop health and bushfire resilience.”
SmartSat, who is leading the mission, says it has already factored the data collected by Kanyini and the HyperScout 2 into a number of projects which will drive further research and build experience in operating Earth observation payloads in space.
SmartSat CEO Professor Andy Koronios says, “Securing the launch with ISILAUNCH is another exciting step for the Kanyini mission which will pioneer sovereign technology in projects such as OzFuel, which will gather real-time data, monitor potentially hazardous conditions specific to Australia’s eucalypt-dominant bushland, and improve our bushfire preparedness, response and resilience. Other real-world applications of the data collected by Kanyini include satellite image-based smoke detection for bushfire mitigation and monitoring inland and coastal water qualities.”
South Australian Deputy Premier and Minister for Defence and Space Industries Susan Close says that, “South Australia is leading the charge in accelerating innovation and growth in the space sector and this mission presents an important opportunity for local industry to play a key role in furthering our national endeavours to build sovereign EO capability, provide secure access to data from space and expand our satellite design and manufacturing expertise.”
“Soon we will be the first State Government to send a locally manufactured small satellite to low Earth orbit and we’re excited to be partnering with ISILAUNCH to secure a launch date for Kanyini on SpaceX in 2023.”
ISILAUNCH director Abe Bonnema stated: “We’re grateful to have been selected by Myriota to get Kanyini in orbit to start its ambitious mission through our reliable, integrated launch services. Building on our knowledge, expertise and our track record of more than 570 satellites successfully sent into orbit, we are keen to provide Myriota with the launch services that best fits their mission needs. Our team, which includes local representation in Australia for smooth and fast interaction with the customer, is looking forward to completing all the necessary launch activities to get Kanyini to space.”
This week, MySecurity Media, Myriota and ISILAUNCH, along with Inovor Technologies, SmartSat and the South Australian Government are present at the bi-annual Australian Space Forum event held in Adelaide, bringing together the best and brightest from Australia’s space industry and around the world.
