TORONTO — Canadian satellite telecommunications company Kepler Communications announced the successful launch this morning of two new GEN1 satellites, further expanding its active low-Earth orbit (LEO) constellation to 15 satellites in total. The company says this is the biggest LEO deployment so far by a Canadian company.
The two new satellites, Kepler-6 and Kepler-7 (right), were launched at approximately 2:07 a.m. EDT via the Soyuz-2.1a rocket out of Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan as part of the CAS500-1 mission.
Once fully operational within the constellation, these satellites will add additional capacity to Kepler’s global data services offering while also creating the largest satellite constellation by a Canadian company, according to Kepler’s press release.
Kepler’s Gen1 satellites were assembled at the company’s facility in Toronto and represent an evolution beyond Kepler’s pathfinder satellites, w
ith an increase to a 6U-XL satellite system. The increased size accommodates technology enhancements such as additional power and antenna capabilities that allow the support of both Ku and narrowband spectrum from a single satellite. This multi-spectrum support is achieved with Kepler’s proprietary software-defined radio (SDR), says the company.
“These spacecraft carry an upgraded narrowband payload that is fully designed, built and integrated in-house in a matter of a few weeks since the launch of our last batch in January. The new payload allows Kepler to bring into use our spectrum filing and rapidly run on-orbit experiments for different narrowband frequencies to determine the best combination of frequencies to provide a globally harmonized IoT service. Additionally, these spacecraft also help to increase our network capacity and decrease data latency for our Global Data Service,” said Wen Cheng Chong, chief technology officer of Kepler Communications, in the press release.
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Photo of today’s satellite launch provided by Kepler Communications.
