a first successful Bluetooth connection between Earth and a satellite

This new and surprising connection was made by engineers from the start-up Hubble Network.

This connection can be considered an achievement, because in everyday life when the headphones and the phone are more than 10 meters apart, the connection is cut. However, engineers from the start-up Hubble Network claim to have been able to maintain a Bluetooth connection over more than 500 km and therefore to have succeeded in communicating with their satellite in low orbit by adding special antennas which act as a magnifying glass for the Bluetooth signal. .

The goal is not to be used to listen to music over very long distances, but rather to create devices capable of sending information from any point on Earth, even when there is no network. . We are therefore talking about rings which can locate a wild animal, a maritime container or a stolen vehicle, but also weather surveys in the open field or even fire-fighting sensors in the forest, for example.

This is a different technology from what exists today, namely small, inexpensive sensors, with great autonomy, but which only communicate over short distances. There are also much larger boxes, because they need more power to connect to cellular or satellite networks.

With this spatial Bluetooth, we would get the best of both worlds, autonomy of a year or more, with a simple button cell and the possibility of communicating globally with satellites.

There are still some restrictions, since the device can only send information and cannot receive it, having neither the antennas nor the necessary power. This risks limiting applications to alerts, signaling or GPS location.

This new technology could replace Bluetooth key fobs, which are used to find belongings. Hubble Network has just signed an agreement with Tile, which will adapt its trackers to satellite technology. It will therefore be possible to locate lost or stolen items throughout the world and there will no longer be a need to be a few meters away to locate them.

We will still have to wait until they launch more satellites, because for the moment, there are only two. However, it would take a good fifty to cover the entire globe.