Satelot and GoSpace have teamed up to provide sensor data for private wells

Satellite communications company Satellite partners with GoSpace to provide internet-of-things connectivity for water management.

That could provide safer drinking water for many of the 43 million people, or 15% of the U.S. population, who rely on private wells as their primary source of drinking water. That is a very interesting application that arises from the combination of satellite-based communication and the Internet of Things.

Natural disasters such as flooding or water pollution can jeopardize the supply of such water. In 2018, the USGS found traces of contaminants in 20% of US private wells.

That’s why Sateliot, the first satellite constellation to offer 5G standard connectivity from space, has teamed up with GoSpace – an aerospace, telecom and IoT hardware company – to bring NTN NB-IoT connectivity to its Meratech water management sensor solution.

GoSpace Meratech is an American Water Council Tech award-winning IoT water management solution, capable of monitoring the presence of contaminants in water by measuring pH acidity levels and temperature, as well as water flow and level when deployed to selected measurement points such as bridges.

Once connected to a low-latency narrowband network, such as Satelot’s 5G satellite constellation, the system provides an alert when unusual situations arise, and serves as an early warning system in the event of impending flooding or potential water contamination.

Well monitoring is now a luxury for the 43 million rural US residents due to proprietary technology from legacy carriers. Satelliot uses the same 3GPP standard protocol, used by MNOs and MVNOs for their terrestrial mobile networks, for their nano-satellites, benefiting the end user with affordable connectivity costs, between $1 and $5 per month per device.

Jaume Sanpera, CEO of Sateliot, said in a statement: “GoSpace has an excellent track record in water management and monitoring in Europe, and we are proud to join their mission in the US market to increase access to improve essential water for all Americans. Sateliot’s connectivity will provide the best service to Meratech customers, helping them monitor their wells wherever they are and alert them to potential hazards.”

Satelliot is the only satellite company connecting global IoT solutions under the standardized 5G NB-IoT protocol through a low-Earth orbit (LEO) constellation of nanosatellites. These satellites act as broadcast towers from space, extending cellular coverage to remote areas without additional hardware or software requirements.

Previously, the satellite industry only offered its own solutions, which are expensive and limited in scope. The network gives anyone with a 5G device easy, affordable access to global mobile coverage.

The company was founded in 2018 and is headquartered in San Diego, California. It has already built a sales pipeline of more than $1 billion from companies such as Schneider Electric, Atos, Sodaq, Bosch and Kuehne & Nagel. It also recently signed an agreement with Amazon Web Services to provide better and more secure connectivity to Sateliot’s users.