The transition to clean energy presents all kinds of challenges. For one, there’s a growing demand for critical minerals. These are essential for electric vehicles, solar panels and battery storage.
According to CEO and Co-Founder of Fleet Space Technologies Flavia Tata Nardini, the global demand for minerals like lithium, nickel and cobalt is expected to triple by 2050.
“Australia is a significant producer of these critical minerals, with an estimated 8% of the world’s reserves,” she says. “But finding new sources using traditional prospecting methods is becoming increasingly costly, complex, time-consuming and environmentally damaging.”
Determined to address this issue, Fleet developed a passive, non-invasive solution at their Adelaide headquarters. The Australian Space Agency helped incubate ExoSphere by Fleet® with funding support through its Moon to Mars Supply Chain Capability Improvement Grant. ExoSphere enables exploration down to two kilometres beneath the Earth’s surface.
“ExoSphere, which leverages Fleet’s satellite constellation, makes the whole process faster, more accurate and less invasive than ever before. It’s a huge win for the mining and energy industries, and the wider world,” Ms Tata Nardini explains.