TAMPA, Fla. \u2014 Apolink has made contact with its first satellite after launching on SpaceX\u2019s July 7 rideshare mission, clearing the way for a data relay demonstration using a novel experimental license from the Federal Communications Commission.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got a first-of-its-kind experimental license for S-band inter-satellite link operations from the FCC,\u201d Apolink CEO Onkar Batra told SpaceNews, enabling the IPoS-TDsM cubesat to receive signals from other satellites in low Earth orbit.<\/p>\n
The license<\/a> clears the 3U cubesat to receive S-band signals from designated partner satellites on an unprotected and non-interference basis, before storing and forwarding them to approved ground stations<\/a>.<\/p>\n IPoS-TDsM, or Interoperability Protocol over Satellite \u2013 Technology Demonstration Mission, is designed to close low-power links at distances of up to about 150 kilometers during line-of-sight passes. Batra said the first conjunction windows are expected to open in July and continue through the end of November.<\/p>\n \u201cThe idea is to receive data from a satellite that\u2019s already in orbit and has its own radios,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThen, without knowing anything about the data, digitize and send it to the ground without losing the integrity of the signal, so we could basically act as a transparent relay layer.\u201d<\/p>\n The capability could later enable operators to send and receive command-and-control signals for their satellites without waiting for a ground pass.<\/p>\n Batra said Singapore-based NuSpace is the primary partner for the demonstration mission, using the NuLink-1 and NuLink-2 connectivity satellites that launched in May.<\/p>\n The mission follows lab simulations and a test using an active beacon from NuLink-2. Batra said those tests helped validate the venture\u2019s ability to process signals from different transceivers, though IPoS-TDsM is designed to demonstrate that capability over the air for the first time.<\/p>\n The California-based startup is seeking other backward-compatible partner satellites to test the technology, ahead of deploying a relay network involving 32 interconnected satellites.<\/p>\n