Kymeta and Partners Support Student Engineers and Environmental Sustainability in Innovative Solar Challenge
Kymeta, Intelsat and ST Engineering iDirect provide ubiquitous connectivity to the Agoria Solar Team as they raced across the Moroccan mountains in their self-built solar car
In a race that spans more than 1,500 miles across Northern Africa, the Solar Challenge brings together engineering teams from universities around the world to compete for gold by driving self-built solar cars through the mountains of Morocco.
The young teams of student innovators used only solar energy to power the car throughout the five-day race. They faced countless tests while en route due to the country’s vast geography that includes sea and mountains, desert sands and green plains, and an over two-thousand-year-old history.
To ensure that crucial communications would not be an issue, from the densely populated city of Agadir to the remote foothills of the Atlas Mountains, Kymeta, Intelsat, and ST Engineering iDirect partnered to deliver ubiquitous connectivity to the Belgian Agoria Solar Team.
The team’s uniquely designed and efficient solar car, called the Blue Point Atlas, was followed by a communications vehicle fitted with satellite connectivity that utilized the innovative Kymeta Hawk™ u8, an iDirect modem and Intelsat’s resilient FlexMove network.
“This bright and dedicated team traveled across more than 10,000 altitude meters on solar power alone,” said Rash Jhanjee, Vice President of Sales, EMEA, at Kymeta. “The need for reliable and robust high-speed internet access while on the move was absolutely critical for the students to examine weather patterns, analyze terrain, and keep family and fans informed on social media. Kymeta was proud to support this innovative initiative.”
Through global partnerships and with breakthrough technology, Kymeta continues to unlock the potential of broadband satellite connectivity to offer total solutions that enable applications and programs like the Solar Challenge to continue enhancing environmental sustainability.
Kymeta is proud to once again work alongside key partners to bring ubiquitous connectivity to racers participating in the upcoming 2022 Sasol Solar Challenge in South Africa this September.
“In every race, there’s always a lot of information coming in, especially in Morocco with all of the mountains,” said Agoria Solar Team race strategist Frederik Vanmaele in a video interview. “It’s a great luxury to have this reliable connection… we knew for sure that we could always inform the solar car.”
The Agoria Solar Team ultimately took home the silver medal after crossing the finish line on day five of the journey in second place.
“I feel fantastic,” wrote team manager Victor Verhaert. We survived the challenge in Morocco. The whole team did a fantastic job!”
To see a video recap of the race from start to finish, click here: https://www.kymetacorp.com/resources/#videos
