The European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) are funding the next phase of NorthStar Earth & Space’s plan to process space surveillance data directly in orbit. The Montreal-based company is developing artificial intelligence software to detect faint objects using onboard satellite computers. This edge computing method processes information in space before sending it to Earth, reducing the time needed to identify potential collision threats.
As low-Earth orbit (LEO) becomes increasingly congested, commercial and defence operators need rapid updates to avoid collisions. Traditional space surveillance requires beaming raw images to ground stations for analysis, creating a data bottleneck. Shifting machine learning algorithms directly to the satellite filters out the noise, reducing bandwidth requirements and increasing the network’s overall observation capacity.
The initiative draws funding from the ESA space safety program. This financial support is facilitated by Canada’s unique position as the only non-European cooperating state within the agency and the recent large infusion of support from Canada into ESA.
Stewart Bain, founder and chief executive officer of NorthStar, noted the software upgrade improves orbital safety and operational efficiency.
“By processing observations directly onboard satellites, we add the ability to better detect, assess, and act in orbit,” Bain said in a statement. “This will allow us to identify and track more objects, improve responsiveness, and deliver information to customers more quickly.”
This software upgrade follows significant commercial and defence developments for the space domain awareness data provider. Last month, NorthStar signed a $40-million contract to supply the Royal Canadian Air Force and 3 Canadian Space Division with space domain awareness intelligence over a 12-month period. The defence agreement provides the armed forces with an independent, domestic source of tracking data to monitor the skies.
The company is also in the process of going public. NorthStar recently filed documents with regulators in the United States outlining a proposed $300-million merger with Viking Acquisition Corp. The deal would take the company public on the New York Stock Exchange to fund the deployment of a larger constellation of tracking satellites.