Munich, GERMANY, and Johannesburg, SOUTH AFRICA — South African drone-as-a-service company Rocketmine has joined aerial forces with German drone developer Quantum-Systems in a strategic partnership that will help the drone services company satisfy the growing demand for aerial Light Ranging and Detection (LiDAR) data across Africa and Australia.  

A subsidiary of Delta Drone International, Rocketmine provides professional drone survey and mapping data services to corporate, with the company being in charge of developing Delta Drone’s solutions for the mining, agriculture and security industries.

The solutions include topographic data essential to surveyors for mine management and digitizing entire sites, including infrastructures, for the gradual construction of 3-D digital models.

“By combining expertise, Rocketmine can bring state of the art technology and service to its customers in Africa, Australia, and beyond offering an all-in-one solution that no one else has been able to offer to clients in that region before,” says Christopher Clark, Managing Director, Rocketmine and CEO, Delta Drone International.

“Rocketmine’s drone-based LiDAR solutions are based on the best available technology globally. We have developed deep expertise in deploying advanced systems in challenging and diverse conditions across Africa over many years, and are to provide actionable drone-based data to clients.

“This partnership with Quantum-Systems enables us to continue providing an unmatched level of service and expertise to some of the world’s leading companies active in mining, security, agriculture and more.”

Rocketmine’s new partner Quantum-Systems develops and deploys small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS) for the geospatial community (commercial product line) and the security, and intelligence community (governmental product line), providing unprecedented data quality, efficiency, and operational usability.

The company claims its fully autonomous sUAS with AI edge computing capabilities enable its users to capitalise on the emerging megatrend of autonomous sUAS data acquisition solutions that will open entirely new markets and applications. All Quantum-Systems sUAS combine eVTOL (electrical vertical take-off and landing) capabilities with long-range utilising electrical and aerodynamic efficiency.

Here is Florian Seibel, CEO, Quantum-Systems:

“We are very excited about this strategic partnership! In Rocketmine, we have found a partner who confirms the performance and quality of our products daily. The team around Christopher Clark and (head of Sales and Marketing) Camron Pfafferott is very open to new technology, but they also test it to its limits before adding it to their service offering. For an innovation-driven company like Quantum-Systems, partnerships like this are invaluable.”

According to the statement released by Quantum Systems, it is chiefly for the latter’s LiDAR capabilities that the two companies have decided to work together, as Rocketmine’s clientele in Africa and Australia has been increasingly demanding LiDAR data from its service provider.

“The use of a LiDAR scanner as remote sensing method generates precise, three-dimensional information about the shape of the Earth and its surface characteristics,” the statement said. “This kind of fast actionable data is crucial for mine operators when calculating stock volumes and for other measurements. 

“Historically, aerial LiDAR has been a technology that could only be deployed by manned aircraft such as helicopters or planes.

“Quantum-Systems introduced the Qube 240 LiDAR sensor in 2021, which has been transformative for the industry since, offering attractive applications for several operations. The Qube 240 produces survey grade results, weighs only 930g, and can be mounted on the Trinity F90+ eVTOL fixed-wing UAV.

“As a technology agnostic company and being an early adopter at the same time, Rocketmine always deploys best in class technology and solutions for their clients’ missions in challenging and complex African environments. This strategy brought them together with Quantum-Systems, an innovation-driven company, pushing new technologies to market.”

The two companies worked together in a pilot project at Rocketmine’s RocketTechTour last September, where they extensively deployed the Quantum-Systems portfolio.

“Over 24 days and 3,000 km of travel, fifteen missions were completed, fourteen flight hours conducted, and three different sensors deployed, including the Qube240 LiDAR sensor, and more than two terabytes of survey grade LiDAR data was captured.

“The operations on the tech tour were successful, proving the usability, accuracy, and quality of Quantum-Systems products.”  

And it was the success of the testing period that led to the conclusion of the global enterprise agreement to solidify relations between both companies.