Hubble Network Unveils Significant Satellite Upgrade for Worldwide Bluetooth Connectivity

Hubble Network is poised to significantly enhance its satellite-based Bluetooth infrastructure.

Headquartered in Seattle, this startup aims to provide businesses with the same benefits that Apple’s Find My service offers to consumers. They have developed an advanced phased-array receiver, which Hubble CEO Alex Haro describes as a “true Bluetooth layer enveloping the Earth.”

This groundbreaking payload will be launched aboard two large new satellites from the four-year-old Muon Space, named MuSat XL, planned for deployment in 2027. Hubble claims that these initial MuSat XL satellites will achieve a global revisit time of 12 hours and are capable of detecting Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) signals at 30 times lower power than current technologies. If successful, this could greatly enhance the battery life of tracking tags and sensors on Earth.

These satellites will facilitate Hubble’s BLE Finding Network, focusing on sectors such as logistics, infrastructure, and defense.

In 2024, Hubble gained attention as the first company to establish a Bluetooth connection directly with a satellite. The startup’s approach is enticing: clients simply need to update their devices’ chipsets with new firmware to connect to the Hubble network, eliminating the requirement for specialized hardware.

Hubble underscores the unique benefits of a space-based network: it offers global visibility, access to remote locations, and a developer-friendly solution for businesses to track assets without additional infrastructure.

Currently, the company operates seven satellites, with aspirations to have 60 active by 2028. The long-term goal includes upgrading the entire constellation to larger platform buses for improved power and performance, as noted by Haro.

Despite the ambitious timeline, Haro mentioned that Hubble chose to partner with Muon due to its swift manufacturing capabilities as a new company. A recent funding round of $146 million will support this endeavor. Gregory Smirin, president of Muon Space, revealed to TechCrunch that their San Jose production facility is undergoing expansion to manage the assembly of over 500 spacecraft annually by 2027.

Hubble is the first customer for the 500-kilogram-class MuSat XL satellite platform, which Muon claims can provide multi-kilowatt power to payloads, incorporate optical crosslinks, offer high-capacity downlinks, and enable “near real-time” communications for critical missions. This collaboration also hints at Muon’s larger aim to secure more lucrative contracts with the Department of Defense.

Smirin highlighted that the XL platform is ideally suited for SDA Tranche missions, part of the Space Development Agency’s efforts to create a missile defense constellation in low Earth orbit. “XL showcases both our enhanced technical capabilities and our expanding role in delivering multi-mission spacecraft that initiatives like SDA increasingly depend on,” he remarked.

Muon operates under a space-as-a-service model, where they design, build, and operate satellites using a vertically-integrated hardware and software framework. This approach, known as Halo, aims to simplify space access for enterprises with innovative payloads that prefer not to develop their own satellite infrastructure. This allows Hubble to focus on growing its BLE network while Muon manages the satellite platforms and mission operations.