WE ARE ON A MISSION TO BUILD THE INTERNET OUTSIDE OF EARTH
Kepler Communications was founded in 2015 by a group of University of Toronto graduate students who met in the University of Toronto Aerospace Team, also known as UTAT. They noticed a massive renewal of interest and activity in the domain of spaceflight, hence the creation of Kepler Communications. Kepler was supported by University of Toronto Engineering’s Entrepreneurship Hatchery and Start@UTIAS, and was also supported by the Creative Destruction Lab.
Within one year of funding, Kepler successfully launched their first satellite into orbit and hasn’t lost momentum since. They currently have 19 satellites in orbit, making them Canada’s largest operator of satellites and have a constellation of 200 satellites planned.
Kepler’s headquarters is located in Downtown Toronto, near the heart of Chinatown. Toronto is known as Canada’s startup capital and has the fastest growing tech market in North America, making it a perfect place for Kepler to call home. All of Kepler’s production is done in-house, making Kepler among the few commercial space companies that operate with vertically integrated production. They actively recruit a top-tier team that is growing rapidly, including from top universities and colleges in Canada. They doubled in size to over 100 full-time employees last year and are planning to continue this rate of growth. Kepler has been recognized as a Great Place To Work multiple times due to their mission and culture-driven organization.
Currently, objects in space connect to the Earth via radio waves as they pass over ground stations. This means that for only a brief period every 90 minutes a satellite, space station, telescope, or other asset in orbit is able to transmit and receive data. Outside of these communication windows, these objects in orbit are unreachable and their data is unable to reach earth. During these periods when the satellite or other object in orbit is unavailable, it is unable to share its data or findings, leading to delays in important data being shared with operators on Earth. This is the problem Kepler is aiming to solve.
Kepler is building the internet in space by building a network called ÆTHER. ÆTHER will allow people to access their space assets in real-time, anytime. As they work towards achieving their mission, Kepler is using their existing and emerging technology to reshape the satellite communications industry, developing groundbreaking technology and providing real solutions for global gaps in connectivity.
Kepler is passionate about helping businesses thrive in an increasingly data-heavy world and finding ways in which they can add additional value to their products and customers.
