Via Satellite
• Jeffrey Hill
Kepler Communications will combine its optical data relay infrastructure with NorthStar’s space domain awareness services under a strategic partnership. The agreement also includes a hosted payload arrangement, linking high-speed space-based communications infrastructure with capabilities for monitoring and characterizing objects in orbit.
Space Debris & Traffic Management
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Kepler Communications will combine its optical data relay infrastructure with NorthStar’s space domain awareness services under a strategic partnership. The agreement also includes a hosted payload arrangement, linking high-speed space-based communications infrastructure with capabilities for monitoring and characterizing objects in orbit.
The Commerce Department’s civil space traffic coordination system, TraCSS, has expanded its user base for service testing but remains in a pilot phase. The department has not established a firm date for transitioning the system into full operational service.
NorthStar Earth & Space plans to place 11 optical space-domain-awareness sensors on Kepler Communications data-relay satellites in 2028, shifting its orbital-tracking architecture after the failure of its first four spacecraft. The deployment would expand NorthStar’s planned ability to monitor objects in orbit without relying solely on dedicated tracking satellites.
The Office of Space Commerce’s TraCSS system has onboarded more than 70 satellite owners and operators across more than 10 nations, but remains in pilot mode because of budget uncertainty. The status underscores the gap between growing demand for space traffic coordination and operationalizing the U.S. system.
Spire Global will develop and flight-qualify a satellite carrying a hyperspectral microwave sounder under a two-year, $28 million NOAA contract, targeting operational capability by 2030. Separately, LeoLabs won a $20.7 million Space Force contract to modify and demonstrate its transportable Scout radar for a defense mission.
SpaceX is encouraging satellite operators to adopt a new space safety platform it developed to reduce collision risks in increasingly congested orbits. The service expands the company’s role beyond launch and satellite deployment into operational space-traffic safety tools for commercial operators.
British startup Odin Space will continue flying its Black Box payload on Arkisys’ Cutter spacecraft under an extended agreement. The system is designed to address lethal, non-trackable space debris, adding another commercial effort focused on improving awareness of orbital hazards.
SpaceX’s proposed orbital data centers would place large-scale computing hardware in space, creating a new end-of-life challenge for electronic equipment beyond Earth. The concept resembles asteroid mining in reverse: instead of extracting material from orbit, operators could leave behind increasingly difficult-to-manage e-waste.
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