Apolink and Galaxia team up to improve planned data relay capability
TAMPA, Fla. - A satellite to be built by Canadian startup Galaxia for launch in 2027 is being lined up for a study aimed at improving California-based Apolink's proposed in-orbit data relay services.
The companies announced a collaborative partnership Feb. 9 covering mission definition, system design and link development for an unspecified satellite.
In September, Canada's Department of National Defence awarded Galaxia a 2.5 million Canadian dollar ($1.9 million) contract to develop a nanosatellite to test data relay pipelines and edge computing technologies for secure communications, with a focus on Arctic operations and national security.
Apolink founder Onkar Batra said the Galaxia satellite is expected to connect with either the debut cubesat it plans to launch this year or a newly developed inter-satellite link demonstrator, picking up radio-frequency links in either S- or X-band spectrum.
The Californian venture is developing a low Earth orbit relay network to fill connectivity gaps when other LEO satellites are out of view of terrestrial ground stations, enabling operators to send and receive command-and-control signals without waiting for a ground pass.
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While Apolink is designing its network to work with satellites already in orbit, Batra said working closely with Galaxia would allow the companies to test customized configurations to achieve higher data rates.
"The improved performance is part of this demonstration and collaborative study," he said.
"I can't comment on the specifics but we are aiming for several megabits instead of kilobits for downlink data rate."
The startup has previously said its first-generation constellation of 32 satellites, interconnected with optical links and slated for deployment by 2029, would support downlink speeds of up to 512 kilobits per second and uplink rates of 9.6 kbps.
According to Batra, the partnership will also help Apolink ultimately offer service-level guarantees for Galaxia missions.
"We plan to do it with other bus manufacturers as well," Batra added, "and especially the ones who manufacture their own transceivers."
Founded in 2020, Galaxia deployed its inaugural software-defined satellite Mobius-1 last year. The spacecraft is designed to enable customers to upload and run applications in orbit, supporting Earth observation and data processing use cases without requiring operators to build or manage their own satellites.
The Halifax, Nova Scotia-based venture is targeting commercial and government customers through its MissionOne turnkey service, covering spacecraft manufacturing, launch and operations.
Lucas Rowlands, Galaxia's vice president of mission operations, said Apolink's relay service would be tested with one of the satellites it plans to deploy in 2027, but declined to elaborate.
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