Kepler Communications announced Tuesday it has been awarded a multi-year contract from Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC) to demonstrate real-time data sharing and connectivity via satellite for continental defence, including the Canadian Arctic.
DRDC develops and delivers technical solutions and advice to Canada’s Department of National Defence, the Canadian Armed Forces, other federal departments, and the public safety and national security communities.
Kepler and DRDC’s joint initiative “will conduct research and analysis to support the development of technologies enabling resilient space architecture that integrates communications, sensing, and command and control,” says a Kepler press release.
Kepler’s commercial low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellation, the Kepler Network, will serve as a communication backbone to connect on-orbit platforms with multi-domain assets, the press release explains.
“Launching in early 2026, Kepler will leverage its first tranche of data relay satellites to demonstrate real-time, high-throughput optical intersatellite links between space and a remote ground terminal in Northern Canada,” the release says. “The secure and encrypted relay demonstrations will model and simulate network resiliency, relay terrestrial-based data, relay and compress Earth observation imagery, process data on orbit, and analyze other key performance metrics.”
“We are proud to be delivering the future of real-time connectivity for Canada’s Arctic,” said Mina Mitry, CEO and co-founder of Toronto-based Kepler Communications, in a statement. “Kepler is committed to advancing sovereign, resilient communications infrastructure by enabling high-speed, secure, low-latency connections in one of the most challenging environments on Earth, strengthening Canada’s presence and capabilities in the North.”
Photo via Kepler’s website
