September 24, 2019 – Eutelsat Communications has unveiled its ELO constellation project targeting the Internet of Things (IoT) market. The upcoming IoT market boom in sectors as diverse as transport, oil and gas, and agriculture means that tens of millions of objects will need to communicate with each other in areas unserved by terrestrial infrastructure. Eutelsat’s ELO constellation will offer global IoT coverage enabling objects to transmit data, irrespective of their location. The construction of this nanosatellite constellation will begin with a first series of four satellites from Loft Orbital (ELO 1 and 2) and Clyde Space (ELO 3 and 4). With expected launch dates between 2020 and 2021, these four satellites will enter commercial service as soon as they are delivered into orbit. If this new initiative proves successful, other satellites will be added to the constellation, to reach a total of 25 satellites operational by 2022. The investment required for the constellation is included in Eutelsat’s existing Capex outlook. The cost associated with each satellite will not exceed 1 million euros. This constellation project follows on from an initial nanosatellite ordered by Eutelsat from Tyvak International last year. Planned for launch early next year, the objective of this test satellite will be to confirm the technical performance of various waveforms between a satellite in low Earth orbit and objects on the ground.