Kepler Provides
On-Orbit High-Capacity
Data Service to Spire Global
May 10th,
2022
Kepler
Communications announces a contract with Spire
Global Inc. to bring
high-capacity Ku-Band Service to the company’s
satellites. Through this
contract, Spire will gain access to Kepler’s robust
Ku-Band technology, enabling the company to provide
additional value to space services customers. The
agreement will see Spire install Kepler’s Ku-Band
payload on three initial satellites, with the option
to scale to up to fifty satellites.
Kepler’s
Ku-Band Service is a fully connected offering that
combines the company’s software defined radio (SDR)
technology and ground infrastructure to provide an
end-to-end data transmission service.
epler’s
SDR payload has proven heritage, having successfully
flown on 19 satellites over the past four years, and
used continually to deliver data to users around the
globe. Using this
technology, Kepler has delivered an information rate
of 300+ Mbps from
low Earth orbit (LEO)
on a 3.4m dish and 240 Mbps on a Kymeta flat panel
antenna. Kepler is currently developing an upgraded
path that would support 2.5 Gbps.
“We are excited
to offer a high-data rate solution, giving our
customers the ability to deliver significantly
larger quantities of data from their on-orbit
assets,” said Diane
Burchett, vice president of engineering for Kepler.
“Spire Global is well positioned to be the lead
client of the service, and we see a great deal of
synergy between our offerings and the value Spire is
creating for their customers.”
Flown as a
hosted payload, Kepler’s
Ku-Band Service enables high-capacity data
transmission services to satellite operators, like
Spire, by combining all required components into one
solution. The physical Ku-Band payload, the data
transmissions service utilizing Kepler’s spectrum
licenses, and the terrestrial ground infrastructure
all combine to create a solution that allows the
operator to focus on their mission and leverage
Kepler’s demonstrated expertise for data
communication requirements.
“Kepler is
building a novel solution for ramping up data speed
with their technology,” said Joel Spark, vice
president of space services for Spire. “This
collaboration is a step-forward in building the
internet in space. We look forward to leveraging the
Kepler network to accelerate the data download
capacity and bring the most technologically enhanced
capabilities to our space services customers.”
The first
Spire Satellites with Ku-Band Service will launch in
early 2023, with Kepler anticipating additional
demand for the solution following the introduction
of the offering in March at Satellite 2022.
Coupled with Kepler’s ground infrastructure, the
comprehensive solution will allow customers to
deliver quantities of data beyond that previously
possible.
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