Launching Australia’s small satellite expertise
South Australia’s first state-funded satellite, Kanyini, was launched in August 2024 aboard SpaceX’s Transporter-11 mission from California.
Built in Adelaide by Inovor Technologies and equipped with IoT services from Myriota, Kanyini will provide critical Earth observation and IoT data to support research in sustainability and climate impacts.
As DR. CATHERINE GRACE explains, the mission led by SmartSat CRC, represents a significant milestone for South Australia’s space sector, creating high-tech jobs and enhancing local space capabilities.
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In an Australian first, South Australian owned and manufactured satellite Kanyini has successfully launched onboard a SpaceX rocket from the United States.
Kanyini is the first State Government-funded satellite in the nation and was built by a local team of South Australian-based companies – SmartSat CRC, Inovor and Myriota.
The $6.5 million mission is helping to create hi tech jobs in the state’s space sector and develop vital space capabilities in the State.
Now that Kanyini is in orbit, the next milestone for the project is to establish stable communications through an operations centre located at Inovor Technologies in Lot Fourteen, Adelaide.
Once fully commissioned, Kanyini will deliver critical space data for use by government and research institutions, particularly in the areas of sustainability and climate impacts.
The research initiatives to be undertaken by Kanyini include early bushfire detection – with technology that can detect fires from space 500 times faster than traditional processing.
The satellite will also support a program – led by South Australian Department for Environment and Water and Greening Adelaide – to sense urban heat islands in the state.
Data collected by Kanyini will also be used to develop robust and trustworthy predictive AI capabilities that can accurately predict natural disaster events such as landslides and flooding, being led by Queensland University of Technology and European Space Agency Phi-Lab.
Follow Kanyini’s journey online