General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) and Kepler Communications US, Inc. have successfully demo’d bi-directional, air-to-space, optical communications between the GA-EMS Optical Communication Terminal (OCT) mounted on an aircraft and a Space Development Agency (SDA) Tranche 0-compatible Kepler satellite in LEO.
The demonstration marks a milestone in advancing SDA’s Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture, proving the ability to establish secure, high-data-rate connectivity between airborne and space-based assets in challenging operational environments.
GA-EMS designed its OCTs to scale and adapt for multi-domain communications across space, air, land, and sea platforms, as well as across various orbital regimes. GA-EMS mounted its OCT on a 12-inch Laser Airborne Communication turret (LAC-12) developed by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) Precision Pointing Group for the test.
As part of the company’s expanding SDA-compatible LEO constellation, Kepler’s Pathfinder satellites are designed to demonstrate high-capacity data services and validate advanced communication technologies under mission-critical conditions—bridging the gap between space, air, and ground networks for defense and commercial applications.
This successful space-airborne communication demonstration represents a breakthrough improvement in building a resilient space architecture. Achieving multi-vendor interoperability validates SDA’s leadership in the optical communication arena,” said Gurpartap “GP” Sandhoo, SDA deputy director. “We are grateful for industry’s rapid acceptance of the SDA OCT Standard and their drive to innovate—pushing the boundaries of what is possible for the warfighter today and into the future.”
Our team achieved a proof-of-concept milestone,” said Scott Forney, president of GA-EMS. “The airborne OCT completed pointing, acquisition, tracking, and lock with the Tranche 0-compatible satellite, then transferred data packets to validate uplink and downlink capability. Our OCT is designed to close a communications gap, enabling secure, robust data transfers to support tactical and operational missions.”
This demonstration not just achieved the milestone for SDA-compatible communications across the air and space domains, but very importantly proved the robustness of the SDA standard for communications between OCT’s built by two different companies,” said Gregg Burgess, vice president of GA-EMS’ Space Systems division. “Under a separate SDA contract, GA-EMS designed and built two OCT systems that will fly on two GA-75 spacecraft to support future LEO airborne-to-space demonstrations for Tranche 1. Those spacecraft launch in 2026.”
By pairing Kepler’s on-orbit optical capabilities with GA-EMS’ OCT, we’ve shown what’s possible when space and aviation systems work seamlessly together,” said Robert Conrad, president of Kepler US. “This achievement builds on our milestone of establishing bi-directional space-to-ground communications with Kepler’s SDA Tranche 0-compatible satellites and reinforces how commercial space operators will be partners in delivering secure, high-throughput connectivity for the defense community and the broader commercial sector.”