Satellites / en Scores of internet-providing satellites will soon streak across Canada's skies: study /news/scores-internet-providing-satellites-will-soon-streak-across-canada-s-skies-what-cost <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Scores of internet-providing satellites will soon streak across Canada's skies: study</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/iStock-924636144-crop.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=kopiacM0 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/iStock-924636144-crop.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=t3IsLGZs 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/iStock-924636144-crop.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=3jJVnCWl 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/iStock-924636144-crop.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=kopiacM0" alt="Starry night sky in Canada"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Christopher.Sorensen</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2021-09-21T11:51:45-04:00" title="Tuesday, September 21, 2021 - 11:51" class="datetime">Tue, 09/21/2021 - 11:51</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">Researchers at U of T, UBC and the University of Regina are studying the light pollution that would be created over Canada by tens of thousands of new internet satellites scheduled to be launched in the coming years (photo by Dave Mantel/iStockphoto)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/don-campbell" hreflang="en">Don Campbell</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/breaking-research" hreflang="en">Breaking Research</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/internet" hreflang="en">internet</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/research-innovation" hreflang="en">Research &amp; Innovation</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/satellites" hreflang="en">Satellites</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/space" hreflang="en">Space</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/u-t-scarborough" hreflang="en">U of T Scarborough</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>The night sky is going to get much busier thanks to thousands of new internet satellites set to launch over the next few years – and researchers say it’s going to affect Canada more than most places on Earth.&nbsp;</p> <p>Researchers from the ؿζSM,&nbsp;the University of Regina and the University of British Columbia&nbsp;found that most light pollution is expected to happen near 50 degrees latitude north and south due to the orbits of the new satellites.&nbsp;</p> <p>This means the skies&nbsp;near most large&nbsp;Canadian cities such as&nbsp;Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Regina and Winnipeg could be affected.</p> <p>“As with any new technology, it’s important to look at all of the possible impacts,” says&nbsp;<strong>Hanno Rein</strong>, an associate professor at U of T Scarborough and a co-author of the new research.</p> <p>“This is such a fundamental change to our view of the sky that it requires greater scrutiny.”</p> <div class="image-with-caption left"> <div><img class="migrated-asset" src="/sites/default/files/UofT77521_Hanno_Rein-20-lpr-crop.jpg" alt><em><span style="font-size:12px;">Hanno Rein (photo by Ken Jones)</span></em></div> </div> <p>Several internet-service companies are planning to launch tens of thousands of satellites in the near future, resulting in a 20-fold increase of these objects in the Earth’s lower orbit. It’s estimated the number of orbiting satellites could reach 65,000 over the next few years, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-89909-7">compared to about 5,000 today</a>.</p> <p>This flood of satellites presents a major challenge for&nbsp;astronomers&nbsp;(and amateur stargazers) who have to contend with light pollution from the thousands of new points of light. Rein says about eight per cent of&nbsp;all the&nbsp;light in the night sky&nbsp;might&nbsp;soon come from these satellites. What will be most noticeable for the average person is the hundreds of new lights slowly moving across the night sky at any given time.&nbsp;</p> <p>The researchers say these satellites will also contribute to atmospheric pollution from rocket fuel during launch&nbsp;and on re-entry when they burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere.</p> <p>More satellites also increase the threat of low orbit collisions, contributing to what’s known as the Kessler Syndrome. This is where the number of objects in low orbit is high enough that a collision becomes more likely, leading to a cascading effect where space debris increases the probability of further collisions. There is currently no method of cleaning up space debris, which means certain space activities and the use of other satellites could be prevented for long periods of time.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>“If these satellites collide it gets much brighter because the surface area increases from all the small fragments of debris that get created,” says Rein, whose research focuses on exoplanets and developing mathematical methods used in astrophysics.&nbsp;</p> <p>While this technology has been touted by companies as a way to deliver high-speed internet to rural areas, Rein notes that the service is expensive and that only a relatively small group of people living in wealthy countries will enjoy the benefits.</p> <p>“The light and environmental pollution impact, on the other hand, will be experienced by everyone,” he says.</p> <p>He says another consideration is what happens if these companies go bankrupt and can no longer manage satellites already in orbit.</p> <p>The research, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2109.04328">has been submitted to<em>The&nbsp;Astronomical&nbsp;Journal</em></a>. Rein also helped develop a&nbsp;web app&nbsp;that allows people to select a latitude, season and time of night to find out how many satellites will be in the night sky and how bright they will be.</p> <p>“The sky plays an important cultural and scientific role in people’s lives,” he says. “You cannot escape this technology – you will always see these satellites flying above you, no matter where you are in the world.”</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Tue, 21 Sep 2021 15:51:45 +0000 Christopher.Sorensen 170439 at A place for space? U of T startup builds out a global satellite network – from downtown Toronto /news/place-space-u-t-startup-builds-out-global-satellite-network-downtown-toronto <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">A place for space? U of T startup builds out a global satellite network – from downtown Toronto</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/0304_Kepler-Mitry-Osborne-%28weblead%29.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=SrTogiPD 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/0304_Kepler-Mitry-Osborne-%28weblead%29.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=9S4p5-bR 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/0304_Kepler-Mitry-Osborne-%28weblead%29.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=qWqIJAV0 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/0304_Kepler-Mitry-Osborne-%28weblead%29.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=SrTogiPD" alt="Photo of Jeffrey Osborne and Mina Mitry"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Christopher.Sorensen</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2019-03-15T12:25:34-04:00" title="Friday, March 15, 2019 - 12:25" class="datetime">Fri, 03/15/2019 - 12:25</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">Co-founders Jeffrey Osborne and Mina Mitry say they're luring back Canadian talent from around the world as Kepler Communications builds out a network of 140 pint-sized communications satellites (photo by Nick Iwanyshyn)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/chris-sorensen" hreflang="en">Chris Sorensen</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/our-community" hreflang="en">Our Community</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/ontario-impact" hreflang="en">Ontario Impact</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/aerospace" hreflang="en">Aerospace</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/alumni" hreflang="en">Alumni</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/creative-destruction-lab" hreflang="en">Creative Destruction Lab</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/entrepreneurship-hatchery" hreflang="en">Entrepreneurship Hatchery</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/global" hreflang="en">Global</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/innovation-entrepreneurship" hreflang="en">Innovation &amp; Entrepreneurship</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/rotman-school-management" hreflang="en">Rotman School of Management</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/satellites" hreflang="en">Satellites</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/space" hreflang="en">Space</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/startups" hreflang="en">Startups</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/thisistheplace" hreflang="en">ThisIsThePlace</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/utias" hreflang="en">UTIAS</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Located above a strip of Spadina Avenue populated by nail salons, currency exchange vendors and a leather supply store, the fourth-floor&nbsp;office of Kepler Communications&nbsp;looks like that of any other tech startup – exposed heating ducts, open concept layout, a large conference table for meetings.</p> <p>That is, until you spot the control room.&nbsp;</p> <p>Inside the glass walls, an operator stares at a bank of six large computer screens that display data from Kepler’s tiny&nbsp;communications satellites as they streak overhead, from pole to pole,&nbsp;at an altitude of about 600 kilometres. Above his head are four clocks displaying the local times of Kepler’s ground-based antennae&nbsp;in&nbsp;Markham, Ont., Inuvik, N.W.T.,&nbsp; and Svalbard, Norway, as well as co-ordinated universal time or UTC.</p> <p>With 30 employees and counting, it's all part of Kepler's grand plan to build a low-cost constellation of 140 communications satellites over the next several years.</p> <p>“We're going to be a global telecommunications network,” says CEO <strong>Mina Mitry</strong>, who did both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at U of T in aerospace engineering.</p> <p>“That's not something to shy away from. For the cost of the capital expenditure we've incurred, who else in the world has been able to do that?”</p> <p>With two satellites already in operation, Kepler is currently test driving a product called Global Data Service with customers. The high-bandwidth service allows companies to send bulk data from fixed locations or moving vessels anywhere in the world – not unlike&nbsp;a space-based Dropbox.&nbsp;Already companies are using the service to send data from remote locations, including the High Arctic, where there is either no ground network infrastructure or satellite transmission costs are prohibitive. In the near future, Kepler also plans to help companies track shipping containers, construction equipment and other assets around the globe.</p> <p>Ultimately, Kepler's grand vision includes&nbsp;extending its low-cost network connectivity beyond Earth so that satellites and other space vehicles can talk to each other, paving the way for a host of novel applications – from real-time tracking of autonomous vehicle fleets to monitoring first responders working in disaster zones. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>"When we get to that stage, we will be right on the cusp of not only providing true connectivity globally, but also extra-terrestrially – other devices that are up in orbit, which have traditionally never had that form of connectivity.”</p> <h3><a href="/entrepreneurs?utm_source=UofTHome&amp;utm_medium=WebsiteBanner&amp;utm_content=UTE2019">Read more about entrepreneurship at U of T</a></h3> <p>If the idea of providing the communications backbone for a new “space economy” in Toronto seems fanciful, Mitry is quick to assure that it’s not.</p> <p>“I think we have the right talent, the right universities – we've got an incredible wealth of knowledge – and people that want to come back to Canada just to work for Kepler," he says.</p> <p>In fact, Mitry estimates that a full 15 per cent of the company’s employees have been “repatriated” from places like Silicon Valley, Seattle and countries in Europe. These are bright minds who left Canada in search of exciting careers, he says, but are now being drawn back by the opportunity to work for&nbsp;innovative local companies&nbsp;that&nbsp;are helping fuel Toronto’s tech boom.</p> <p>Nor is it just Kepler that has spotted an opportunity for Canadian startups at edges of Earth's atmosphere. The Creative Destruction Lab, a seed-stage accelerator affiliated with U of T’s Rotman School of Management, last spring launched a dedicated stream for space-focused startups. Its lead mentor is none other than Chris Hadfield, the first Canadian commander of the International Space Station.</p> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__10463 img__view_mode__media_large attr__format__media_large" height="453" src="/sites/default/files/0304_Kepler-control-room-%28embed%29.jpg" typeof="foaf:Image" width="680" loading="lazy"></p> <p><em>An operator monitors Kepler's satellites from a control room inside the company's headquarters on Spadina Avenue (photo by Nick Iwanyshyn)</em></p> <p>Kepler’s origins can be traced to the ؿζSM Aerospace Team, a not-for-profit initiative Mitry helped build during his graduate studies. Originally focused on building aircraft and drones for competitions, the group later moved into rocketry and satellites – all while growing its membership from about five to over 100 people.</p> <p>That’s where Mitry met fellow co-founder and current vice-president of strategy and business development <strong>Jeffrey Osborne</strong>, as well as Kepler's other two co-founders <strong>Mark Michael</strong> and <strong>Wen Cheng Chong</strong>. The group's work on the team provided them with early insight into how the space industry’s once insurmountable barriers to entry were steadily being eroded thanks to shared launch vehicles and a changing regulatory environment.&nbsp;</p> <p>“We understood that deeply,” Mitry says. “But the rest of the world may still have had the common misconception that, 'Well, you're not Lockheed Martin, you're not a major aerospace contractor, therefore you can’t access space.’”</p> <p>It wasn’t long before the group spotted an opportunity to prove such conventional thinking wrong.</p> <p>Kepler’s co-founders decided there was money to be made by using a low-cost satellite platform and high-bandwidth service. So they focused on CubeSats and the Ku-band frequency, which allows for particularly high data throughputs. Their efforts were supported by U of T’s Entrepreneurship Hatchery and Start @ UTIAS – just two of the many entrepreneurship hubs on campus.</p> <p>While there were some significant engineering hurdles to overcome with regards to miniaturizing components, Kepler managed to successfully put its first microsatellite into orbit in early 2018 after launching from a rocket in northwestern China. It followed up the feat with a second launch of a similar satellite ten months later – this time on a rocket that blasted off from India.</p> <p>One of Kepler’s existing clients is the German shipping company F. Laeisz, which operates an icebreaking vessel called the Polarstern that spends most of its life outside the range of typical geostationary communications satellites. The crew plans to use the Global Data Service to send back to shore giant files that include high-resolution imagery, data logs and video.</p> <p>A third satellite is scheduled to be launched this spring or summer. Unlike the first two, this one will also be equipped with narrow-band communications equipment. It’s designed&nbsp;to provide a more cellular-like data service to connect smaller assets such as remote sensors in weather stations or moving containers and rail cars.</p> <p>Osborne says the narrow-band service will target industrial customers who want insight into questions like: “Where is my asset while its moving around the globe? What is the temperature of my asset? Has it been damaged or stolen?” It's basically a&nbsp;way to provide global connectivity, from space, for what's known as the Internet of Things, or IOT.</p> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__10472 img__view_mode__media_large attr__format__media_large" height="453" src="/sites/default/files/KIPP-render-%28embed%29.jpg" typeof="foaf:Image" width="680" loading="lazy"></p> <p><em>A rendering of one of Kepler's tiny, low-cost satellites, which aren't much&nbsp;bigger than a loaf of bread (image courtesy of Kepler Communications)</em></p> <p>Kepler’s efforts to build out its constellation received a boost after it successfully raised US$16 million in financing last fall. It plans to have the first generation of the network in place, consisting of 10 to 15 spacecraft, by early 2020. It’s also planning to add two more antenna sites in Norway and New Zealand.</p> <p>Of course, Kepler isn’t the only company eyeing space-based communications networks. Elon Musk’s SpaceX, for example, last year received approvals from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to move ahead with plans to put as many as 12,000 satellites in orbit with the goal of providing global Internet connectivity. Each satellite in the proposed Starlink network would be about the size of a car.</p> <p>How does Kepler plan to compete?&nbsp;Osborne says the startup was deliberate in its decision to focus narrowly on commercial customers, and has&nbsp;amassed a favourable regulatory position in the marketplace “that gives us advantages when it comes to being able to offer different types of services.”</p> <p>Being based in Canada also has its benefits.&nbsp;Kepler has more opportunity to take advantage of global launch schedules than its American competitors because it’s not subject to U.S. International Traffic in Arms Regulations, or ITAR, according to Mitry. He adds that Kepler has also benefited from Canada’s more favourable immigration laws when it comes to hiring global talent.</p> <p>But the biggest difference between Kepler and many of its competitors comes from its strategic decision, made early on, to use a cheaper, more nimble fleet&nbsp;of satellites. Each one has a three- to five-year lifespan as opposed to a decade or more for more conventional spacecraft.</p> <p>“That means we can get our satellites into orbit quicker, which means we can respond to new market demands much quicker,” Osborne says. “It also means we can incorporate new technologies into our assets to respond, again, to changing market demands or new innovations coming online.</p> <p>"We have the advantage of being able to fill in the gaps of connectivity a little bit easier than some of these other operators that are building mega-constellations."</p> <p>Score one&nbsp;– actually 140, if all goes to plan&nbsp;– for the little guy.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Fri, 15 Mar 2019 16:25:34 +0000 Christopher.Sorensen 155509 at U of T researchers to design microsatellites for Arctic monitoring /news/u-t-researchers-design-microsatellites-arctic-monitoring <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">U of T researchers to design microsatellites for Arctic monitoring</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/Arctic%20%28weblead%29.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=TBtxaVWF 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/Arctic%20%28weblead%29.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=uezcjiaA 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/Arctic%20%28weblead%29.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=kXVEOEv5 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/Arctic%20%28weblead%29.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=TBtxaVWF" alt="aerial photo of Nunavut"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Christopher.Sorensen</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2019-02-01T15:03:27-05:00" title="Friday, February 1, 2019 - 15:03" class="datetime">Fri, 02/01/2019 - 15:03</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">An aerial photograph over Nunavut, taken en route to Canadian Forces Station Alert from a CC-177 Globemaster aircraft on June 10, 2016 (photo by Belinda Groves, Task Force Imagery Technician courtesy of Department of National Defence)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/breaking-research" hreflang="en">Breaking Research</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/arctic" hreflang="en">Arctic</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-applied-science-engineering" hreflang="en">Faculty of Applied Science &amp; Engineering</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/research-innovation" hreflang="en">Research &amp; Innovation</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/satellites" hreflang="en">Satellites</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/utias" hreflang="en">UTIAS</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Researchers from the ؿζSM will develop three microsatellites to help support next-generation situational awareness in Canada’s North.</p> <p>The project, named Gray Jay Pathfinder, was announced today at the ؿζSM Institute of Aerospace Studies, or UTIAS, by local members of Parliament Michael Levitt and <strong>Ali Ehassi</strong>.</p> <p>Partners include UTIAS’s Space Flight Laboratory, headed by Associate Professor&nbsp;<strong>Robert Zee</strong>, the Department of National Defence and Canadian Armed Forces, A.U.G. Signals Ltd. and Space Strategies Consulting Ltd.</p> <p>“Increased trade and activity in the Arctic will create greater demand for the specialized services of the Canadian Armed Forces, including search and rescue, emergency response and environmental monitoring,” said Levitt. “Today’s contract will stimulate Canadian industry and academia in key technology areas.</p> <p>“We are proud and excited to invest in this promising research.”</p> <p>Zee and his research team will be receiving $15 million in funding for the project, and will be drawing on more than 20 years of successful microsatellite development for customers and end-users around the world. Among their 21 operational satellites are CanX-4 and CanX-5, which in 2014 <u><a href="https://www.utias-sfl.net/?p=2154">demonstrated formation flying with sub-metre relative position control</a></u>.</p> <p>“The Gray Jay Pathfinder project represents a significant opportunity for us to leverage our past successes and use our leading-edge technologies to support the needs of Canadian defence in the 21<sup>st </sup>century,” said Zee.</p> <p>“It will open the door to greater opportunities to serve Canadian interests as well as enhance global competitiveness and foster new international collaboration while providing elite training opportunities for graduate students.”</p> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__10095 img__view_mode__media_large attr__format__media_large" height="453" src="/sites/default/files/RobertZee_credit-Marit-Mitchell-%28web-embed%29.jpg" typeof="foaf:Image" width="680" loading="lazy"></p> <p><em>Robert Zee,&nbsp;the director of UTIAS's Space Flight Laboratory,&nbsp;and his research team are receiving $15 million in funding to develop three microsatellites&nbsp;(photo by Marit Mitchell)</em></p> <p>The space flight laboratory will take the lead on designing the satellites, while the industry partners will develop the algorithms required to process the signals obtained and conduct a needs and utility assessment analysis of the approach to Far North surveillance.</p> <p>Gray Jay Pathfinder falls within the larger All Domain Situational Awareness Science and Technology Program launched by the federal government in 2015. The program supports the development of innovative solutions for enhanced domain awareness of air, maritime surface and sub-surface approaches to Canada, particularly in the Arctic.</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Fri, 01 Feb 2019 20:03:27 +0000 Christopher.Sorensen 152471 at Less satellite, more data? U of T startup will connect the world from space /news/less-satellite-more-data-u-t-startup-will-connect-world-space <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Less satellite, more data? U of T startup will connect the world from space</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-03-23-kepler.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=YzplklVp 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2017-03-23-kepler.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=AHHIurBe 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2017-03-23-kepler.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=4OskTBHI 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-03-23-kepler.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=YzplklVp" alt="Photo of Kepler staff"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>ullahnor</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2017-03-24T12:28:28-04:00" title="Friday, March 24, 2017 - 12:28" class="datetime">Fri, 03/24/2017 - 12:28</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">Kepler Communications, an award-winning team of engineering alumni, is building satellites so small that they're no larger than a loaf of bread</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/jennifer-robinson" hreflang="en">Jennifer Robinson</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Jennifer Robinson</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/breaking-research" hreflang="en">Breaking Research</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/research" hreflang="en">Research</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/entrepreneurship" hreflang="en">Entrepreneurship</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/satellites" hreflang="en">Satellites</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/aerospace" hreflang="en">Aerospace</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/creative-destruction-lab" hreflang="en">Creative Destruction Lab</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/hatchery" hreflang="en">Hatchery</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/startup" hreflang="en">Startup</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-applied-science-engineering" hreflang="en">Faculty of Applied Science &amp; Engineering</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>An award-winning team of alumni from U of T’s Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering is building satellites so small they could fit in your gym bag. Their startup, Kepler Communications, plans to place 140 of these low-cost “cubesats” into space over the next five years. The first one will blast into orbit this November.</p> <p>Kepler’s orbiting system will make air travel safer, let us instantly detect leaks in remote oil pipelines, help improve crop yields and monitor the heart rates of far-flung emergency<br> rescue workers.</p> <p>Working with U of T’s innovation incubators, Kepler secured more than US $5 million in funding to develop its technology and bring its first cubesats to market. But their five-year strategy is just the beginning. As Kepler co-founder and CEO <strong>Mina Mitry</strong> says, “Our vision is to provide ubiquitous connectivity to gather the world’s information.”</p> <p><em>U of T News</em> spoke with&nbsp;Mitry&nbsp;and&nbsp;<strong>Jeff Osborne</strong>, co-founder and&nbsp;vice president, business development of Kepler, ahead of&nbsp;<a href="http://entrepreneurs.utoronto.ca/entrepreneurshipweek/">Entrepreneurship@UofT Week</a>.&nbsp;</p> <hr> <p><strong>What is your startup?</strong></p> <p><strong>Mina Mitry: </strong>Kepler is on a mission to connect the people and devices that gather the world’s information. We’re deploying the largest constellation of small telecommunications satellites to connect devices on the ground –&nbsp;like oil pipeline monitors and devices in space like satellites that take pictures of the Earth.</p> <p><strong>Jeff Osborne:</strong> In order to reach this mission, what differentiates Kepler is the use of small, low-cost nano satellites. Each one of our nano satellites is around five kilograms in weight and no larger than a loaf of bread.</p> <p><strong>As engineering students at U of T, when did you first come up with the&nbsp;idea? </strong></p> <p><strong>Mina Mitry:</strong>&nbsp;Jeff and I were both doing graduate studies at U&nbsp;of T. Prior to Jeff starting his PhD, he had been roommates with other people who were founding space companies and had recognized there was this underlying trend of growth in the space sector.</p> <p>So we started together, and then we brought on board two other co-founders, Mark [Michael] and Wen [Cheng Chong], two of the smartest people&nbsp;that I knew in my network who could really help us see this vision through. The four of us left all of our commitments.&nbsp;I turned down further studies and job offers.&nbsp;Jeff left his PhD.&nbsp;Mark left his PhD, and Wen left his full-time job<strong>.&nbsp;</strong></p> <p>We’re now a team of 10 and hoping to be a team of 25 next year.</p> <p><strong>Jeff Osborne:</strong>&nbsp;What was really the root&nbsp;of the company...was that we had all spent a number of years doing student design projects out of the university. We spent three years on the U&nbsp;of T&nbsp;aerospace team where we built small rockets, drones and small satellites together. That was really where we learned how to work together and build&nbsp;those strong bonds of cooperation that still exist&nbsp;and allow&nbsp;us to thrive.</p> <p><strong>What gives your startup an advantage?</strong></p> <p><strong>Mina Mitry:</strong> Our core advantages are&nbsp;technology and regulatory nature.&nbsp;</p> <p>This is very difficult to explain in layman’s terms...you need certain frequencies in order to be able to operate. They’re allocated on a first come, first served basis. Doing them first gives us the priority to be able to use them. Later entrants will have to either abide by constraints that we set out for their systems . . . or they’ll have to lease, buy or do something to work with us.</p> <p>Another key advantage is the really small form factor radios and antennas that we’ve been able to build at a very very low cost. We’re at about one one-hundredth of the next comparable telecommunications satellite [in terms of the size and cost].</p> <p><strong>How are you going to get your satellites into space and when?</strong></p> <p><strong>Jeff Osborne:</strong>&nbsp;For the&nbsp;size of our satellite, in a launch, it is what’s called a secondary payload. Effectively, what you do is piggyback into orbit.</p> <p>When a big launch vehicle goes up –&nbsp;like the next generation Space X –&nbsp;it will have a primary payload on the&nbsp;launch vehicle. But for each launch going up, there’s always excess mass on the vehicle...there’s always extra space in the trunk to put additional satellites on board. Those are called secondary satellites.</p> <p>So, we buy up those secondary tickets for a fraction of the price, and we hitchhike to orbit! Our [first] launch is in November with Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). It’s an Indian rocket.</p> <p>How to actually deploy satellites into orbit is with a glorified jack-in-the-box. It’s basically just a box with a spring. They open the lid [of the launch vehicle’s cargo area] and satellites get&nbsp;thrown out [into orbit].</p> <p><strong>How many of your satellites are you putting up at that time?&nbsp;</strong></p> <p><strong>Mina Mitry:</strong> We’ll put up the first one at the end of this year and we’ll put up the next generation probably in mid-2018. They’ll provide the initial service to our customers. With only two satellites up in orbit, you can look at applications that have latency requirements of about 12 hours. If you can get the data back to them within 12 hours in an economical way while layering on other services then there’s value to be had there.</p> <p>From there, we want to scale to 20 to 40 spacecraft within the 2018-2019 timeframe, eventually building our way to about 140 [in our] satellite constellation.</p> <p>The satellites remain in orbit for upwards of 10 years. We’re putting up new satellites every three years so that we can put up better technology that will improve our network.</p> <p><strong>Jeff Osborne:</strong>&nbsp;On every new batch of satellites we’re putting up, we can improve date rates and connect to more devices etc. It’s really about applying Moore’s Law to the space industry, which historically hasn’t happened.</p> <p><strong>What are&nbsp;examples of some time-sensitive applications?</strong></p> <p><strong>Jeff Osborne:&nbsp;</strong>Let’s say you want to measure the strain on your bridge in a remote area. It doesn’t necessarily matter if you get the data back in milliseconds – the bridge probably isn’t going anywhere.</p> <p>Or, let’s say you want to measure the flow through your pipeline in the middle of Alaska to identify leaks. It doesn’t really matter how long it takes for the data to get back because you can’t get a crew out to fix the leak for another week.</p> <p>Conversely, there are other applications that are very dependent on latency. Let’s say you want to measure the heart rate of an emergency responder in a disaster situation. You need to know that information instantaneously so you can deploy response measures.</p> <p><strong>What is the range of applications?&nbsp;</strong></p> <p><b>Jeff Osborne:&nbsp;</b>Fundamentally, what we are trying to build is the pipe to connect remote devices. It doesn’t really matter what you’re measuring, whether it be strain,&nbsp;heart rate,&nbsp;temperature,&nbsp;flow or GPS positions.</p> <p>We’re relatively agnostic about the type of data that is flowing through. We’re just providing the capabilities for customers to be able to connect their devices.</p> <p><strong>What kind of support did you receive at U of T to get Kepler started?</strong></p> <p><strong>Mina Mitry:&nbsp;</strong>U of T was very, very impactful in helping us get this startup off the ground.</p> <p>We started at <a href="http://www.utias.utoronto.ca/current-students-2/utias-start-entrepreneurship-program-2/">Start@UTIAS</a>, a program run by [alumnus] <strong>Francis Shen </strong>who generously donated a fair amount of money to the university to support and encourage entrepreneurship specifically within the aerospace community. That program helped us get started and seeded us with $25,000 of capital to help build our ideas.</p> <p>We then moved on to the <a href="https://hatchery.engineering.utoronto.ca/">ؿζSM Hatchery</a>, another really impactful program that helped us understand how to tell our story, how to communicate with various stakeholders and how to focus our attention and time on things that really mattered for the company.</p> <p>From there, we went to <a href="https://www.creativedestructionlab.com/">Creative Destruction Lab</a>, which was another incredible U of T program. That was really the catalyst to expanding and growing our network. It helped us understand the players in the startup community outside of aerospace, how the funders work, how customers could work, and it helped us develop a more focused scope.</p> <p>All three of those helped us from ideation to fundraising and scaling the company.</p> <p><strong>Jeff Osborne:</strong>&nbsp;When we started working on student design projects, that experience gave us was the confidence to think we could actually do something like this.</p> <p>When you’re staying up until 6 a.m. to test fire a rocket engine, or when you crash your plane three days before a competition,&nbsp;and you have to bring the entire team together to rebuild it, that not only shows you what can be done by the&nbsp;team, but it also gives you the confidence that when you have these big problems, these big challenges, you can actually address&nbsp;them.</p> <p><strong>Is there an advantage to being located in Toronto for your startup?</strong></p> <p><strong>Mina Mitry:&nbsp;</strong>Being a Canadian company, there are a ton&nbsp;of advantages.</p> <p>There’s the [federal] Scientific Research and Experimental Development [tax incentive] program. For our company, which is a high technology venture, the government is willing to support our development by giving us 40 cents on the dollar [for research and development costs].</p> <p>In Toronto, we also have a huge talent pool with resources coming in from the ؿζSM, the University of Waterloo –&nbsp;some of the top engineering schools [in the world] –&nbsp;feeding our talent pool.</p> <p>And now we have this huge catalyst in the United States [President Donald Trump], and&nbsp;a number of expats wanting to come back to Canada. Of the regions you’re going to choose within Canada, Toronto is a pretty key location.</p> <p><strong>Jeff Osborne:&nbsp;</strong>In the last couple of days, the regulatory environment for space station operations in Canada is becoming much more favourable for small players. Without going into too many details, there are a few rules the Canadian government is implementing that will make it much easier for small companies to get access to frequency, to get space station licenses that don’t exist in other countries.</p> <p><strong>In closing, what would be your advice to students right now at U of T who are in the infancy of their startup or just have a really great idea?</strong></p> <p><strong>Mina Mitry:&nbsp;</strong>I got the bug for startups running a university design team. I’d get involved in design projects.&nbsp;That’ll give you a flavour of what it’s like to run a company.</p> <p>Find a killer team. [Those student design projects] gave us the team we’re working with today, which we otherwise probably wouldn’t have found. Most of Kepler, as it exists today, is that team. We have technology, but it’s not nearly as valuable as the team that built it.</p> <p><strong>Jeff Osborne:</strong>&nbsp;If someone has ideas, just do them. Do them! And figure out everything else along the way.&nbsp;There’s not many times in one’s life where you have the opportunity to potentially build something&nbsp;exciting with people that you know and work well with. It's a no-brainer!</p> <p><em>Kepler Communications is one of more than 150 research-based startups launched in the last five years at U of T. Learn more at <a href="/">utoronto.ca</a></em></p> <h3><a href="/news/could-your-face-be-window-your-health-u-t-startup-gathers-vital-signs-video">Read about Entrepreneurial Startup NuraLogix</a></h3> <h3><a href="/news/what-does-speech-reveal-about-our-health-u-t-startup-finds-400-subtle-neurological-health">Read about Entrepreneurial Startup WinterLight Labs</a></h3> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Fri, 24 Mar 2017 16:28:28 +0000 ullahnor 106057 at