In a rare in-depth profile piece for The Australian Financial Review, the entrepreneur added that she wants Fleet to outlive her and become “the best explorers of this planet, and others”.
“This is my contribution to humanity,” she said.
Fleet Space Technologies cemented its position as one of Australia’s most valuable space companies in December after it raised a further $150 million from investors.
The company’s extraordinary rise has been led by its satellites that can detect minerals underground from space. The technology effectively allows mining companies to both speed up the hunt for minerals and reduce costs by lowering the need for invasive land surveying.
The “ExoSphere” product has led Fleet to be named one of Australia’s fastest-growing companies, boasting clients such as Rio Tinto, Barrick Gold, and Core Lithium.
However, in a new interview, Tata Nardini outlined how the journey to success was a struggle. Her first venture, LaunchBox, taught school students how to create and launch small satellites via weather balloons and led to the creation of Fleet.
Fleet’s early years, though, were marked by financial uncertainty. In 2019, a launch delay with SpaceX forced the company to rebuild satellites and turn to Rocket Lab for help. CEO Peter Beck agreed to launch them for $1.
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“That was the moment which Peter made me,” Nardini said. “Entrepreneurs helping entrepreneurs is the most wonderful thing.”
Today, Fleet is valued at $800 million, and funding rounds have grown from $5 million to $35 million, $50 million and finally the $150 million secured last year.
It has also recently launched two new satellites – Centauri-7 and Centauri-8 – onboard SpaceX’s huge Transporter 12 rideshare mission and announced that it has begun work on a new 5,000-square-metre headquarters near Adelaide Airport.
Finally, in June, Space Connect reported how Fleet would partner with three Australian businesses specialising in quantum technology to upgrade its mining tech.
“For the global mining industry to achieve its potential as an industry leader in exploration data-intelligence, we must build the deep technologies and infrastructure that integrate breakthrough sensing modalities into a unified system,” Tata Nardini said.
Adam Thorn
Adam is a journalist who has worked for more than 40 prestigious media brands in the UK and Australia. Since 2005, his varied career has included stints as a reporter, copy editor, feature writer and editor for publications as diverse as Fleet Street newspaper The Sunday Times, fashion bible Jones, media and marketing website Mumbrella as well as lifestyle magazines such as GQ, Woman’s Weekly, Men’s Health and Loaded. He joined Momentum Media in early 2020 and currently writes for Australian Aviation and World of Aviation.
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