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Mitry, who left the PHd program at the University of Toronto to focus on Kepler, has raised US $5 million thus far to develop the technology that’s essentially a miniature version of a satellite transponder and antenna.

“A typical satellite would, for perspective, be the size of a bachelor apartment in the downtown Toronto area. Our spacecraft are about the size of a loaf of bread,” he said.

A nanosatellite launch costs between US$200,000 and US$300,000, one hundredth of the cost of a standard launch, Mitry said. Once the nanosatellite is in orbit, it will operate in the Ku-band, a spectrum used largely for satellite Internet and television.

Initial customers will test the technology to prove that it works, Mitry said. The early adopters are in the fishing, marine and scientific industries, Mitry said, though he wouldn’t divulge names.

“Initially (the nanosatellites) will be for providing connectivity in hard-to-reach places,” he said. “But as we see the network scaling, it could eventually scale to become a very viable solution across the world.”

The business will scale, depending on customer demand, by launching more satellites. Kepler is in late-stage negotiations to launch a second spacecraft and hopes to eventually launch 140 spacecraft. It has applied with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission for licensing for the constellation.

One hard to reach place where Kepler expects demand is in Canada’s far north, particularly satellite-dependent Nunavut. Kepler was co-founded by Samer Bishay, who owns Iristel and Ice Wireless. He “absolutely” plans to use the nanosatellites to improve wireless and Internet service in the north.