Photo: NASA

NorthStar Earth & Space has received “approval in principle” from Canadian authorities for its planned 52-satellite constellation for Earth Observation (EO) uses. 

The company announced Tuesday that it has received approval from the Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) to use its requested Ka-band and X-band radio-frequency ranges. The ISED approval in principle confirms NorthStar’s Canadian spectrum application is in full compliance with the regulations of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). 

The planned satellite constellation involves 12 initial “Skylark” satellites with optical sensors for Space Situational Awareness (SSA) services. 40 additional satellites will be designed with additional optical sensors and a combination of hyperspectral and infrared sensors for EO. NorthStar Earth and Space is backed by the governments of Canada and Quebec, Telesystem Space, the Space Alliance (Thales Alenia Space and Telespazio), and others. 

“As NorthStar is advancing towards the launch of its first three Skylark satellites, this authorization from ISED to operate NorthStar’s planned 52-satellite constellation with the radio-frequency spectrum that we’ll need is an important milestone” said Stewart Bain, CEO of NorthStar Earth & Space.