Kepler Communications has joined forces with TESAT-Spacecom and Airbus Defence and Space to create a high-bandwidth optical communications network in low Earth orbit.

Through the Kepler-led effort, the organizations intend to explore new opportunities, including the European Space Agency’s High Throughput Optical Network initiative, known as HydRON, Kepler announced from Toronto, Ontario on Wednesday.

“This collaboration enables the development of terabit-per-second data relay in space, with a state-of-the-art optical network architecture that gives European and Canadian forces secure access to spacecraft data with sub-second latency,” explained Mina Mitry, CEO and co-founder of Kepler.

He said the company’s mission to build out the Internet in space aligns with HydRON’s goal to “demonstrate Fibre in the sky,’” or bring Internet connectivity to the domain.

As the team lead, Kepler will provide expertise in spacecraft constellation design, manufacturing and operation. The enterprise will also support the project using technologies it is developing for its LEO optical data relay network.

TESAT will offer specialization in space optical and network payload development, and Airbus will contribute an understanding of operational and system engineering while enabling access to optical ground stations.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of Space Commerce has released a document articulating its vision of a global system that facilitates coordination between various providers of space situational awareness services.

The OSC said Monday that its envisioned system would be composed of national or regional hubs, which, in turn, would be supported by international partnerships and augmented by a commercial SSA industry.

According to the OSC, the coordination system would work to minimize conflicting information about “potential conjunction events” that might affect spacecraft. The system would also serve as a foundation for possible space traffic coordination efforts, which would require consistent SSA information.

The office went on to note that the contribution of the U.S. to this system is the Traffic Coordination System for Space, or TraCSS, which may serve as a national or regional SSA provider in the future.

To facilitate global coordination, the OSC said TraCSS must be developed openly, transparently and in close coordination with other countries, including those that are developing their own SSA capabilities and those that have traditionally not collaborated with the U.S.

The U.S. Space Force, Air Force Research Laboratory and the Defense Innovation Unit have released their annual joint report outlining new recommendations for maintaining U.S. leadership in the space domain and building a sustainable commercial space sector.

The 2023 State of the Space Industrial Base, or SSIB, report found the need for the U.S. to establish resilient domestic supply chains, streamline bureaucratic processes to reduce licensing barriers, enhance access to financial tools to spur economic growth and implement an “allied-by-design” approach to improve interoperability with allies, the DIU said Monday.

Key recommendations include accelerating the transition to dynamic space operations, embracing a collective North Star vision for space, shifting toward agile policymaking and execution, scaling the production of commercial space technologies and sustaining funding for programs that use commercially available tools.

This year’s report focuses on assessing the current state of launch missions, traffic management, satellite communications, remote sensing, in-space logistics, advanced power and workforce development.

The report includes feedback collected from representatives of 17 partner nations during a workshop held at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California.