{"id":14044,"date":"2018-01-22T18:49:27","date_gmt":"2018-01-22T10:49:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/testbed-for-canadian-data-relay-network-successfully-launched-from-china\/"},"modified":"2018-01-22T18:49:27","modified_gmt":"2018-01-22T10:49:27","slug":"testbed-for-canadian-data-relay-network-successfully-launched-from-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/testbed-for-canadian-data-relay-network-successfully-launched-from-china\/","title":{"rendered":"Testbed for Canadian data relay network successfully launched from China"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
A Long March 11 rocket lifted off at 0412 GMT Friday (11:12 p.m. EST Thursday) with a pathfinder satellite for Kepler Communications and five Chinese payloads. Credit: Kepler Communications<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A nanosatellite built in Scotland for Kepler Communications, a Toronto company planning a 140-satellite global data relay network, rode to orbit Friday with five Chinese satellites launched aboard a solid-fueled Long March 11 booster from the Gobi Desert.<\/p>\n

The Canadian-owned CubeSat, named KIPP after a robot in the film Interstellar, is no bigger than a shoebox, but its launch marks a major step in Kepler\u2019s ambition to deploy a commercial satellite fleet to transfer bulk data around the world, help companies track global shipments, and receive and forward data from remote scientific sensors.<\/p>\n

KIPP lifted off at 0412 GMT Friday (11:12 p.m. EST Thursday) from the Jiuquan space base in northwestern China. The launch occurred at 12:12 p.m. Beijing time Friday.<\/p>\n

Kepler\u2019s first spacecraft was accompanied on the launch by two Jilin 1 satellites to join a growing commercial Earth-imaging fleet owned by Chang Guang Satellite Technology Co. Ltd., a commercial spinoff of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.<\/p>\n

The Jilin 1 satellites are designed to record high-definition video and color imagery for sale to customers, including the Chinese military, civilian authorities and commercial users.<\/p>\n

The two video imaging craft launched Friday adds to three similar Jilin 1 satellites launched from China in November. With Friday\u2019s orbital deployment, Chang Guang has launched 10 satellites, including eight Jilin 1 video surveillance payloads, since 2015.<\/p>\n

U.S. military tracking data indicated the four-stage Long March 11 rocket placed its six payloads in a slightly elliptical, or oval-shaped, orbit around 335 miles (540 kilometers) above Earth. The satellites are orbiting on a track tilted 97.5 degrees to the equator.<\/p>\n

Friday\u2019s launch was the third flight of China\u2019s Long March 11 rocket, a booster built for relatively low-cost, quick-response launch services.<\/p>\n

Developed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, or CALT, the Long March 11 is about 68 feet (21 meters) tall and nearly 7 feet (2 meters) in diameter. It is one of two light-class solid-fueled launchers recently added to China\u2019s rocket fleet, alongside the Kuaizhou designed by the China Aerospace Science & Industry Corp., a different unit in China\u2019s state-run defense and aerospace apparatus from CALT.<\/p>\n

Both of the new rocket types blast off from a wheeled mobile transporter, and are sized to send small payloads into orbit.<\/p>\n

Kepler\u2019s KIPP CubeSat was the first Canadian satellite to launch on a Chinese rocket, and the company said its pilot spacecraft is the first commercial Ku-band communications satellite launched and operated in low Earth orbit.<\/p>\n

The company said it received assistance from the Canadian government in securing use of the Ku-band spectrum.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are really excited that we are the first to deploy a Ku-band LEO spacecraft,\u201d said Mina Mitry, Kepler\u2019s co-founder and CEO. \u201cWhile the goal of Kepler will be to establish an in-space connectivity network, we recognize the need for a sustainable and incremental deployment of services and technologies in order to achieve this goal.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Artist\u2019s concept of the KIPP satellite. Credit: Kepler Communications<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Kepler is one of several companies working on so-called commercial \u201cmega-constellations,\u201d huge fleets of broadband, data relay and other types of communications satellites.<\/p>\n

Others eyeing the deployment of large numbers of telecom satellites in low Earth orbit \u2014 and not the higher-altitude geostationary orbit typically favored for broadcast and broadband \u2014 include One Web, SpaceX and Telesat.<\/p>\n

The first 10 of OneWeb\u2019s planned constellation of 900 communications satellites are scheduled for launch in mid-2018 on a Europeanized Russian-made Soyuz rocket provided by Arianespace.<\/p>\n

SpaceX is planning an even bigger broadband fleet comprising more than 4,000 small satellites, with the company\u2019s first in-space testbed craft expected to launch in the coming months.<\/p>\n

Telesat\u2019s first pathfinder satellite in low Earth orbit launched Jan. 12 on an Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle. The successful deployment came about six weeks after Telesat lost a similar testbed craft on a failed Russian Soyuz launch.<\/p>\n

The KIPP spacecraft launched Friday will help Kepler commence initial services, beginning with a \u201cstore-and-forward\u201d relay capability.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a tremendous amount of data out there that doesn\u2019t need real-time connectivity, but just needs to move \u2013 GIS data, aggregated IoT sensor data, CCTV backlogs, even media,\u201d Mitry said. \u201cWe can move high volumes of this data, we can do it cheaply, and we improve our quality of service with every new satellite we launch.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mitry said Kepler will offer customers a low-cost alternative for transferring large data catalogs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are companies out there putting hard drives on helicopters and flying them around because there aren\u2019t alternatives to transport bulk data,\u201d Mitry said. \u201cThis standard practice will gradually be replaced by affordable connectivity solutions like ours to move data from remote locations, simplifying logistics and improving business sustainability in the long term.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kepler is also pursuing the \u201cInternet of Things\u201d market, which will allow connective devices to communicate with one another via satellite relays.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe challenge with IoT is that to create a truly compelling business model, you need lots of devices connected,\u201d Mitry said. \u201cThat requires pricing and performance on par with terrestrial wireless. The amount of spectrum in Ku-band presents a viable way of doing this, but there needs to be substantial technology advancements before we can get there. Being the first to actually deploy a LEO Ku-band system gives us a first-mover advantage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kepler\u2019s fleet could eventually provide radio and telemetry links for other satellites, space stations and transport vehicles, the company said in a press release.<\/p>\n

Built by Clyde Space Ltd. in Glasgow, Scotland, KIPP will go into operation for several customers Kepler says it has already signed up for backhaul service.<\/p>\n

Kepler\u2019s second satellite, also built by Clyde Space and named CASE for another robot featured in Interstellar, will launch later this year.<\/p>\n

Mitry said the KIPP satellite \u201cwent from napkin to orbit\u201d in one year.<\/p>\n

\u201cInitial contact with KIPP indicated the spacecraft is happy, healthy, and performing as expected,\u201d Mitry wrote in a blog post on Kepler\u2019s website. \u201cAn incredible feat for our engineering team that has worked tirelessly to ensure KIPP\u2019s success.\u201d<\/p>\n

Email the author.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Long March 11 rocket lifted off at 0412 GMT Friday (11:12 p.m. EST Thursday) with a pathfinder satellite for Kepler Communications and five Chinese payloads. Credit: Kepler Communications A nanosatellite built in Scotland for Kepler Communications, a Toronto company planning a 140-satellite global data relay network, rode to orbit Friday with five Chinese satellites […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1886,584,2067,135,2599,1608,159,2069],"class_list":["post-14044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-calt","tag-canada","tag-chang-guang-satellite-technology","tag-china","tag-clyde-space","tag-cubesats","tag-earth-observation","tag-jilin-1"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14044"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14044"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14044\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}