ARGOS (ARTIC R2) Satellite Communication Guide

Contributors: PaulZC

How much does it cost?

The costs for ARGOS are different if you are a Regular, Commercial or Individual User or a Governmental or Institutional (Educational) User. ^*

The currency that the fees are charged in depends on your geographical location. If you are in the USA or Canada, the fees are charged in US Dollars. If you are in Europe, the fees are charged in Euros.

There is a monthly fee per active platform, plus a daily fee for any day on which you transmit. However, the daily fee is capped allowing unlimited monthly usage for a competitive fixed fee - currently: 87 Dollars/Euros per month for Regular, Commercial or Individual users; 63 Dollars/Euros per month for Governmental or Institutional (Educational) users. ^*

You can access your data via ARGOS Web for free, or choose to pay an additional fee to receive your data via email, FTP or SMS.

How does this compare with other service providers? A direct comparison is tricky. Here is one way of looking at the numbers:

• Swarm:
  • A Swarm data plan (750 packets, 192 bytes per packet = 144000 Bytes) costs $5 USD per month
  • Swarm allows you to stack up to 4 data plans per device (3000 * 192 = 576000 Bytes) costing $20 USD per month
  • The cost per 1000 Bytes is $0.035
• Iridium communication through Rock7:
  • Costs are £12 (GBP) per month line rental plus £0.13 to £0.04 per message credit, depending on how many credits you buy in one go
  • One message credit is charged per 50 bytes sent (or received) - or part thereof
  • Sending 144000 Bytes per month would cost: £12 plus £115.20 (at £0.04 per credit) = £127.20 (approx. $169)
  • The cost per 1000 Bytes is approx. $1.17
• ARGOS (Commercial / Individual):
  • ARGOS charge monthly plus daily fees independent of data use
  • A3 HD supports message lengths up to 4636 bytes (see ARGOS Message Formats below)
  • Transmitting say ten times per day: 10 * 4636 bytes per day = 46360 Bytes per day = 1390800 Bytes per month for $87 per month ^*
  • The cost per 1000 Bytes is approx. $0.063

^{Notes: Exchange rates and prices correct at December 2nd 2021. Prices exclude taxes.}

^{* Please note that ARGOS pricing for 2022 is still being reviewed. For lower transmission rate, large volume of platforms, or Proof Of Concept, a discount may apply.}