Satellites

Scores of internet-providing satellites will soon streak across Canada's skies: study

Christopher.Sorensen — Tue, 21 Sep 2021 15:51:45 +0000

Scores of internet-providing satellites will soon streak across Canada's skies: study

Christopher.Sorensen Tue, 09/21/2021 - 11:51

Cutline

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)

Don Campbell

Topic

Breaking Research

internet

Research & Innovation

Satellites

Space

U of T Scarborough

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.

Researchers from the �ؿ�ζSM, the University of Regina and the University of British Columbia found that most light pollution is expected to happen near 50 degrees latitude north and south due to the orbits of the new satellites.

This means the skies near most large Canadian cities such as Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Regina and Winnipeg could be affected.

“As with any new technology, it’s important to look at all of the possible impacts,” says Hanno Rein, an associate professor at U of T Scarborough and a co-author of the new research.

“This is such a fundamental change to our view of the sky that it requires greater scrutiny.”

Hanno Rein (photo by Ken Jones)

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, compared to about 5,000 today.

This flood of satellites presents a major challenge for astronomers (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 all the light in the night sky might 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.

The researchers say these satellites will also contribute to atmospheric pollution from rocket fuel during launch and on re-entry when they burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere.

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.

“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.

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.

“The light and environmental pollution impact, on the other hand, will be experienced by everyone,” he says.

He says another consideration is what happens if these companies go bankrupt and can no longer manage satellites already in orbit.

The research, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, has been submitted toThe Astronomical Journal. Rein also helped develop a web app 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.

“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.”

A place for space? U of T startup builds out a global satellite network – from downtown Toronto

Christopher.Sorensen — Fri, 15 Mar 2019 16:25:34 +0000

A place for space? U of T startup builds out a global satellite network – from downtown Toronto

Christopher.Sorensen Fri, 03/15/2019 - 12:25

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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)

Topic

Creative Destruction Lab

Entrepreneurship Hatchery

Global

Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Rotman School of Management

Located above a strip of Spadina Avenue populated by nail salons, currency exchange vendors and a leather supply store, the fourth-floor office of Kepler Communications looks like that of any other tech startup – exposed heating ducts, open concept layout, a large conference table for meetings.

That is, until you spot the control room.

Inside the glass walls, an operator stares at a bank of six large computer screens that display data from Kepler’s tiny communications satellites as they streak overhead, from pole to pole, at an altitude of about 600 kilometres. Above his head are four clocks displaying the local times of Kepler’s ground-based antennae in Markham, Ont., Inuvik, N.W.T., and Svalbard, Norway, as well as co-ordinated universal time or UTC.

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.

“We're going to be a global telecommunications network,” says CEO Mina Mitry, who did both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at U of T in aerospace engineering.

“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?”

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 a space-based Dropbox. 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.

Ultimately, Kepler's grand vision includes 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.

"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.”

U of T researchers to design microsatellites for Arctic monitoring

Christopher.Sorensen — Fri, 01 Feb 2019 20:03:27 +0000

U of T researchers to design microsatellites for Arctic monitoring

Christopher.Sorensen Fri, 02/01/2019 - 15:03

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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)

Topic

Breaking Research

Arctic

Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering

Research & Innovation

Satellites

UTIAS

Researchers from the �ؿ�ζSM will develop three microsatellites to help support next-generation situational awareness in Canada’s North.

The project, named Gray Jay Pathfinder, was announced today at the �ؿ�ζSM Institute of Aerospace Studies, or UTIAS, by local members of Parliament Michael Levitt and Ali Ehassi.

Partners include UTIAS’s Space Flight Laboratory, headed by Associate Professor Robert Zee, the Department of National Defence and Canadian Armed Forces, A.U.G. Signals Ltd. and Space Strategies Consulting Ltd.

“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.

“We are proud and excited to invest in this promising research.”

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 demonstrated formation flying with sub-metre relative position control.

“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^stcentury,” said Zee.

“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.”

Robert Zee, the director of UTIAS's Space Flight Laboratory, and his research team are receiving $15 million in funding to develop three microsatellites (photo by Marit Mitchell)

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.

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.

Less satellite, more data? U of T startup will connect the world from space

ullahnor — Fri, 24 Mar 2017 16:28:28 +0000

Less satellite, more data? U of T startup will connect the world from space

ullahnor Fri, 03/24/2017 - 12:28

Cutline

Kepler Communications, an award-winning team of engineering alumni, is building satellites so small that they're no larger than a loaf of bread

Jennifer Robinson

Author legacy

Jennifer Robinson

Topic

Creative Destruction Lab

Hatchery

Startup

Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering

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.

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
rescue workers.

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 Mina Mitry says, “Our vision is to provide ubiquitous connectivity to gather the world’s information.”

U of T News spoke with Mitry and Jeff Osborne, co-founder and vice president, business development of Kepler, ahead of Entrepreneurship@UofT Week.

What is your startup?

Mina Mitry: 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 – like oil pipeline monitors and devices in space like satellites that take pictures of the Earth.

Jeff Osborne: 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.

As engineering students at U of T, when did you first come up with the idea?

Mina Mitry: Jeff and I were both doing graduate studies at U 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.

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 that I knew in my network who could really help us see this vision through. The four of us left all of our commitments. I turned down further studies and job offers. Jeff left his PhD. Mark left his PhD, and Wen left his full-time job.

We’re now a team of 10 and hoping to be a team of 25 next year.

Jeff Osborne: What was really the root 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 of T aerospace team where we built small rockets, drones and small satellites together. That was really where we learned how to work together and build those strong bonds of cooperation that still exist and allow us to thrive.

What gives your startup an advantage?

Mina Mitry: Our core advantages are technology and regulatory nature.

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.

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].

How are you going to get your satellites into space and when?

Jeff Osborne: For the size of our satellite, in a launch, it is what’s called a secondary payload. Effectively, what you do is piggyback into orbit.

When a big launch vehicle goes up – like the next generation Space X – it will have a primary payload on the 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.

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.

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 thrown out [into orbit].

How many of your satellites are you putting up at that time?

Mina Mitry: 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.

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.

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.

Jeff Osborne: 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.

What are examples of some time-sensitive applications?

Jeff Osborne: 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.

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.

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.

What is the range of applications?

Jeff Osborne: 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, heart rate, temperature, flow or GPS positions.

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.

What kind of support did you receive at U of T to get Kepler started?

Mina Mitry: U of T was very, very impactful in helping us get this startup off the ground.

We started at Start@UTIAS, a program run by [alumnus] Francis Shen 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.

We then moved on to the �ؿ�ζSM Hatchery, 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.

From there, we went to Creative Destruction Lab, 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.

All three of those helped us from ideation to fundraising and scaling the company.

Jeff Osborne: When we started working on student design projects, that experience gave us was the confidence to think we could actually do something like this.

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, and you have to bring the entire team together to rebuild it, that not only shows you what can be done by the team, but it also gives you the confidence that when you have these big problems, these big challenges, you can actually address them.

Is there an advantage to being located in Toronto for your startup?

Mina Mitry: Being a Canadian company, there are a ton of advantages.

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].

In Toronto, we also have a huge talent pool with resources coming in from the �ؿ�ζSM, the University of Waterloo – some of the top engineering schools [in the world] – feeding our talent pool.

And now we have this huge catalyst in the United States [President Donald Trump], and 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.

Jeff Osborne: 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.

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?

Mina Mitry: I got the bug for startups running a university design team. I’d get involved in design projects. That’ll give you a flavour of what it’s like to run a company.

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.

Jeff Osborne: If someone has ideas, just do them. Do them! And figure out everything else along the way. There’s not many times in one’s life where you have the opportunity to potentially build something exciting with people that you know and work well with. It's a no-brainer!

Kepler Communications is one of more than 150 research-based startups launched in the last five years at U of T. Learn more at utoronto.ca

Satellites

Scores of internet-providing satellites will soon streak across Canada's skies: study

A place for space? U of T startup builds out a global satellite network – from downtown Toronto

Read more about entrepreneurship at U of T

U of T researchers to design microsatellites for Arctic monitoring

Less satellite, more data? U of T startup will connect the world from space

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