Blink Astro

Blink Astro (Blink®) builds satellite-based Internet of Things (IoT) infrastructure for machine-to-machine (M2M) connectivity in locations where cellular and WiFi networks do not reach. Founded in 2015, the company draws on years of prior IoT and M2M expertise to design low-power, satellite-linked communication systems that connect remote field sensors with a dedicated Low Earth Orbit network.

The Blink Astro system is built as a complete ecosystem from ground to orbit. On the ground, low-power BlinkR sensor devices (such as AquaBlinkR for waterway monitoring and AgriBlinkR for agriculture) collect brief data bursts and transmit them using an ultra-low-power radio link. In orbit, a tailored constellation of small PanelSat nanosatellites, each carrying a BlinkSat Radio receiver, listens for these transmissions during scheduled daily passes and relays the collected data back down through the Blink network, enabling dependable global connectivity without relying on terrestrial cellular or WiFi coverage.

Blink Astro serves customers across oil and gas (offshore platforms, pipelines, remote infrastructure monitoring), precision agriculture (field and irrigation sensing), logistics (asset and shipment tracking along remote routes), environmental monitoring (water quality and ecosystem data collection), and defense and security (field-deployed sensor uplinks in border and maritime regions). The company has previously flown hosted radio payloads and shipped hardware for technology demonstration satellites, and has been featured in customer case studies involving NanoAvionics-built spacecraft and SpaceWorks-affiliated waterway monitoring projects.

Looking ahead, Blink Astro is expanding its BlinkR family of ground transmitters into compact, direct-to-satellite IoT terminals, alongside cloud-based analytics tools intended to convert incoming sensor data into actionable insights for customers operating in remote environments worldwide.