The Critical Link

Recently we announced an agreement to deploy Aalyria’s Spacetime next-generation networking software to organize the efficient flow of customer traffic over the Telesat Lightspeed Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellation.

Spacetime is an advanced software platform that will leverages machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI). The topology of LEO networks is dynamic due to the constant movement of satellites over the earth to maintain their low altitude orbits. Efficient network orchestration is critical for delivering the highest quality of service and meeting service commitments on availability, latency, bandwidth, and jitter to customers. Spacetime optimizes and continually evolves the computations needed for all-domain orchestration and management, ensuring seamless integration, optimal performance, and efficient operation of the Telesat Lightspeed network.

Telesat will use Aalyria’s Spacetime platform to find the most robust and reliable routing of customer data between any two points on Earth through real-time analysis of millions of possible paths, autonomously evolving antenna link scheduling, dynamic network traffic routing, and spectrum resources based on changing network requirements. Spacetime will create a “digital twin” of the Telesat Lightspeed constellation that understands the effects of motion propagation, weather phenomena and atmospheric characteristics on connectivity. And the software can be constantly updated. This approach will enable Telesat to flexibly connect its satellites orbiting in space with networks across the world in a way that was previously not possible.

The Spacetime software platform is a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 9 product, meaning it has been proven through successful mission operations. It was used internally at Google and Alphabet to power the communications network for Project Loon’s deployments in Peru, Puerto Rico and Kenya. Spacetime has logged millions of flight hours providing high-speed connectivity to previously underserved rural communities. Aalyria launched as an independent company in 2022 and much of the engineering team that worked on Spacetime at Google will now be working on Telesat Lightspeed.

The deterministic, real-time analysis required by Telesat Lightspeed consumes considerable computing resources that grow faster than the size of the constellation. The Spacetime platform will allow Telesat Lightspeed to make efficient computing decisions using novel AI approaches that scale linearly with the size of the constellation, while maintaining near optimality of the solutions. Additionally, by applying online learning methods using real-time feedback, the constellation will grow smarter over time, making faster decisions while at the same time reducing computing resource requirements. This is just one example of the ways AI will benefit LEO systems.

Another example of the application of AI to LEO can be found in research conducted by Telesat and the Canadian Space Agency to predict rain fade events and route customer traffic around them. By leveraging real-time precipitation data, AI and machine learning, rain attenuation can be predicted with excellent confidence up to an hour ahead of an event. That information can then be fed to Spacetime to proactively avoid routes going through adverse propagation conditions, thereby mitigating interference from bad weather on customer traffic.

Telesat and Aalyria are two innovative companies putting the most advanced technology into space today. Aalyria’s expertise and heritage with Spacetime align perfectly with our vision for Telesat Lightspeed, delivering enterprise-class LEO connectivity with the lowest latency, highest availability and resiliency for service provider, enterprise and government customers.