SES has said it will work with NorthStar to develop SSA data products tailored for its satellite network using data from NorthStar's future satellite constellation. Credit: SES
TAMPA, Fla. — NorthStar Earth & Space plans to deploy 11 optical space domain awareness (SDA) sensors on Kepler Communications data relay satellites in 2028 following the failure of its first four orbital-tracking spacecraft.
The Canadian companies announced an agreement Aug. 27 they said provides the foundation for a long-term relationship, combining NorthStar’s sensing and analytics capabilities with Kepler’s relay infrastructure in low Earth orbit (LEO).
NorthStar plans to announce a manufacturer later for the payload sensors, which the company told SpaceNews are slated to deploy across two separate launches in 2028 for Kepler’s next-generation relay spacecraft.
Kepler announced the start of commercial services earlier this week from the 10 satellites in its first-generation optical relay constellation.
