[FemtoStar]

FemtoStar Project lead here, it's really neither an IoT system nor a Starlink competitor, though it could do either. See our FAQ page's item on Starlink and how it's an interesting but indirect comparison.

FemtoStar is perfectly usable as a traditional satellite communications system, but we're specifically interested serving a group of people who have not previously been satcom customers - that is, users more focused on FOSS and privacy, who, we hope, might see FemtoStar more as an improvement on the privacy concerns and proprietary software of terrestrial and satellite networks alike than as a spec-for-spec competitor with other FSS or MSS options.

[spuz]

Could you give some specific examples of potential customers who have expressed an interest in an open source satellite constellation? I would guess a company like Matrix.org might be a good fit.

[FemtoStar]

In terms of large customers, yes, community projects like that are an option, but in a lot of cases we expect our customers to be individuals simply purchasing a terminal for their own use. We've had plenty of individuals express interest in using it - it probably wouldn't be useful to start just listing off names but if you'd like to join the FemtoStar Matrix room you'll find plenty of people very interested in it (though, in fairness, being interested in it is why you would join the Matrix room to begin with).

We have found that the idea of 100%-FOSS, privacy-respecting, low-cost, medium-speed internet access even in the middle of nowhere, plus an open platform for custom services is appealing to a lot of people.

[d_silin]

Would love to connect with you - send me an email to [e-mail], if you can.