Kepler Communications – a company that is building the Internet for space – announced it has raised $92 million in Series C funding led by IA Ventures. And since 2016, the company has raised over $200 million in equity with support from Costanoa Ventures, Canaan Partners, Tribe Capital, BDC Capital’s Industrial Innovation Venture Fund, and several other leading investors.
With this funding round, Kepler is going to launch an optical data relay infrastructure in 2024, complementing its existing RF network. And Kepler’s optical communications infrastructure will use 2 near-orthogonal planes of relay satellites in sun-synchronous orbits with satellites in each plane continuously connected using SDA-compatible optical inter-satellite links. The optical services will be operational and available to customers by Q1 2025.
The Kepler Network is going to streamline on-orbit communications with a network infrastructure designed to act as Internet exchange points (IXP) for space-to-space data relays. And the Internet-ready constellation will deliver data to and from spacecraft in real-time, enabling high-speed data relay through SDA-standard optical terminals.
The company is planning to launch two Pathfinder satellites in the fall of 2023, testing and validating optical communication technology developed for the Kepler constellation. And the company’s newest satellites build on the flight heritage of its existing constellation, totaling 21 satellites after the launch of two additional spacecraft in mid-April 2023.
Kepler offers customers a service-level agreement (SLA) and a turnkey solution for satisfying the complete communications requirements of a mission. And the agreement includes communications payloads for both optical and RF, spectrum licenses, security, ground infrastructure, and edge computing.
KEY QUOTES:
“Exponentially decreasing launch costs make space more accessible than ever, but connectivity beyond Earth is still costly, challenging, and inconsistent. The Kepler Network solves this by providing a fast, open, developer-friendly network enabling ‘it-just-works’ connectivity between any asset in space and back to Earth—and someday to Mars and beyond! With proven customer demand for their high-speed optical network, we are excited to lead this funding round to enable Kepler to continue its rapid growth and achieve profitability.”
– Brad Gillespie, general partner at IA Ventures
“Since our foundation, Kepler has been dedicated to enabling the future of space communications; working tirelessly to create the infrastructure needed for real-time, always-available access to space assets. As we build out The Kepler Network, we are solving challenges the industry faces and simplifying mission communications by bringing modern Internet capabilities into space. Internet services on Earth completely transformed civilization, and we believe extending the Internet to space will have the same far-reaching impact.”
– Mina Mitry, chief executive officer for Kepler
