Kepler Communications has joined forces with TESAT-Spacecom and Airbus Defence and Space to create a high-bandwidth optical communications network in low Earth orbit.
Through the Kepler-led effort, the organizations intend to explore new opportunities, including the European Space Agency’s High Throughput Optical Network initiative, known as HydRON, Kepler announced from Toronto, Ontario on Wednesday.
“This collaboration enables the development of terabit-per-second data relay in space, with a state-of-the-art optical network architecture that gives European and Canadian forces secure access to spacecraft data with sub-second latency,” explained Mina Mitry, CEO and co-founder of Kepler.
He said the company’s mission to build out the Internet in space aligns with HydRON’s goal to “demonstrate Fibre in the sky,’” or bring Internet connectivity to the domain.
As the team lead, Kepler will provide expertise in spacecraft constellation design, manufacturing and operation. The enterprise will also support the project using technologies it is developing for its LEO optical data relay network.
TESAT will offer specialization in space optical and network payload development, and Airbus will contribute an understanding of operational and system engineering while enabling access to optical ground stations.