Kepler Communications has petitioned for changes with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to consolidate its constellation size to better suit the updated optical data relay infrastructure.
To comply with FCC regulations, a company must submit a request to the FCC if it intends to make substantive changes to a licensed system, such as changes to the constellation size or to the size and weight of the individual satellite. Kepler’s system changes reflect compliance with updated FCC rules, including the requirement for a satellite to deorbit within a 5 year period.
Under the consolidated filing, the first tranche of Kepler’s optical data relay network will consist of 10 satellites on-orbit, scheduled to be launched in quarter four of 2025. The filing also includes the two optical pathfinder satellites launched in quarter four of 2023 and six on-orbit radio frequency (RF) cubesats from the company’s first generation of services. Future tranches of The Kepler Network will pursue additional FCC filings.
To accommodate advanced optical technology and edge computing capabilities, Kepler’s optical relay satellites are significantly larger than the RF cubesats described under its initial filing. Tranche one satellites will weigh approximately 260 kg compared to 12 kg of the RF satellites. The company has also added propulsion to their optical relay satellites, ensuring the ability to deorbit within FCC-mandated timelines.
The updated FCC filing supports Kepler’s significant progress resonating with optical customers, highlighted by recent announcements of the company leading development of the European Space Agency’s High Throughput Optical Network (HydRON) program, and announcements supporting NASA’s Communication Services Project (CSP) and the Space Development Agency (SDA) Hybrid Acquisition for Proliferated LEO (HALO) contract.
Kepler’s transition to optical technology has been noted since 2022, when the company announced partnering with TESAT Spacecom for optical terminals. In June 2024, the company announced sending over a terabyte of data through optical inter-satellite links and the successful demonstration of IP mesh networking on-orbit. The Kepler Network provides customers with sub-second end-to-end latency, gigabit throughput and onboard processing to enable access to space-generated data in near-real time.
“Kepler has closely watched optical technology evolve and made the decision to adjust our strategy to develop an optical data relay infrastructure that modernizes communications for commercial and government customers,” said Mina Mitry, chief executive officer and co-founder of Kepler Communications. “In our initial filing, we detailed a data relay network based on RF technology, which would have required a larger number of satellites to serve customer needs. With the maturation of optical technology, standards and market demand, Kepler has proudly shifted our architecture to provide customers cutting-edge Internet capabilities in space with a more sustainable network.”