Apolink makes contact with first relay satellite
TAMPA, Fla. - Apolink has made contact with its first satellite after launching on SpaceX's July 7 rideshare mission, clearing the way for a data relay demonstration using a novel experimental license from the Federal Communications Commission.
"We've got a first-of-its-kind experimental license for S-band inter-satellite link operations from the FCC," Apolink CEO Onkar Batra told SpaceNews, enabling the IPoS-TDsM cubesat to receive signals from other satellites in low Earth orbit.
The license 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.
IPoS-TDsM, or Interoperability Protocol over Satellite – 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.
"The idea is to receive data from a satellite that's already in orbit and has its own radios," he said.
"Then, 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."
The capability could later enable operators to send and receive command-and-control signals for their satellites without waiting for a ground pass.
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.
The mission follows lab simulations and a test using an active beacon from NuLink-2. Batra said those tests helped validate the venture's ability to process signals from different transceivers, though IPoS-TDsM is designed to demonstrate that capability over the air for the first time.
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.
In February, Apolink partnered with Canada-based startup Galaxia on a satellite slated to launch in 2027 to help improve its in-orbit data relay technology.
IPoS-TDsM was one of 81 payloads on a Falcon 9 that lifted off at 3:12 a.m. Eastern from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, to sun-synchronous orbit.
Thank you for reading the article!
