An Interview with Maarten Engelen

Welcome Maarten Engelen, founder and CTO/MD of Hiber!

(Not discussed, but relevant: an article about the launch late last year)

• Chris met Joris last year while in Amsterdam, who now works at Hiber and introduced him to Maarten
  • 0h 0m 46s
• Maarten had no previous experience in satellite tech
  • 0h 0m 55s
• Space industry in the Netherlands
  • 0h 1m 8s
• Not just Amsterdam
  • 0h 8m 34s
• Delft University
  • 0h 8m 55s
• ESTEC - ESA research center in Noordwijk
  • 0h 9m 13s
• Iridium satellite
  • 0h 14m 2s
• Windows update over satellite
  • 0h 14m 8s
• Lifetime of orbit is limited
  • 0h 16m 27s
• Drag on the satellites
  • 0h 17m 24s
• Why not do a further out orbit?
  • 0h 18m 24s
• Benefits only add up over large distances
  • 0h 21m 26s
• Doesn't have a huge effect on the antenna
  • 0h 21m 52s
• Is the antenna on the satellite directional?
  • 0h 23m 27s
• Helical antenna
  • 0h 23m 41s
• Reaction wheels
  • 0h 24m 44s
• ADCS - Attitude Determination and Control System
  • 0h 24m 47s
• Sun sensors
  • 0h 26m 57s
• Magnetic sensors
  • 0h 27m 11s
• Star tracker
  • 0h 27m 16s
• Talking about the module
  • 0h 33m 29s
• Running at 400MHz
  • 0h 33m 42s
• Lower bitrate
  • 0h 34m 10s
• Currently once per day, maybe once per hour in the next year
  • 0h 34m 55s
• Licensed band
  • 0h 35m 43s
• MSS band (mobile satellite services)
  • 0h 35m 48s
• ITU is part of the UN
  • 0h 35m 56s
• Coordination process is the same
  • 0h 36m 39s
• There's no iSM band for space
  • 0h 36m 58s
• Each RF map was developed separately
  • 0h 39m 14s
• What the module looks like
  • 0h 41m 16s
• Downlink is used scheduling right now
  • 0h 43m 17s
• They're SDRs, so can get new firmware and open up new bands
  • 0h 43m 48s
• Sleep vs transmit currents
  • 0h 45m 26s
• 100 nA deep sleep
  • 0h 45m 32s
• 3W peak power
  • 0h 45m 54s
• Conservify
  • 0h 47m 25s
• Use cases
  • 0h 48m 4s
  • IT and M2M is very broad
    • 0h 48m 14s
  • Logistics
    • 0h 48m 26s
  • Smart Ag
    • 0h 48m 33s
• This small country feeds the world
  • 0h 49m 46s
• Targeting industries that save money
  • 0h 50m 58s
• Costs for the service - $1 / month
  • 0h 52m 22s
• or $6 / year
  • 0h 52m 40s
• Modem is 40 euro right now
  • 0h 53m 8s
• Currently has GPS capabilities
  • 0h 58m 23s
• Certification is done for you
  • 1h 0m 44s
• FCC exception for whitelabel goods (ovens, dishwashers)
  • 1h 4m 7s
• Found via @talldarknweirdo and @brouhaha on Twitter
  • 1h 5m 22s
• To learn more, go to Hiber.global or follow @HiberGlobal on twitter or Facebook
  • 1h 5m 46s

Image Credit: @awscloud_jp