Solstar Space (Solstar), the company making persistent in-orbit communications available, announces its Deke Space Communicator (Deke) designed for narrowband communications for suborbital and orbital spacecraft and launch vehicles has been recognized with the New Space Innovation Award during MSUA’s 2022 Satellite Mobile Innovation Awards. Deke is designed to be about the size of a deck of cards, and engineered to be seamlessly integrated into CubeSats, SmallSats, space stations, launch vehicles, and more to provide reliable, secure two-way persistent communications with launch vehicles and on-orbit assets from any internet connected device anywhere on Earth or in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). It also provides reliable and resilient operational status and alerts for LEO satellites to Mission Operations Centers (MOC).

Solstar Space Deke Space Communicator Earns MSUA New Space Mobile Innovation Award

Solstar Space Deke Space Communicator Earns MSUA New Space Mobile Innovation Award

“We are thrilled that the Deke Space Communicator has been recognized by the respected panel of judges for this year’s MSUA Satellite Mobile Innovation Awards. Solstar is addressing one of the biggest challenges for space-based communications today – the up to 90% of the time where there aren’t any communications with an orbiting space-based asset,” says M. Brian Barnett, Founder and CEO, Solstar Space Company. “Once activated, the Deke Space Communicator will provide narrowband connectivity and airtime service to meet the requirements of payload managers, satellite operators, and a broad range of research and IoT use cases. It’s not necessary to launch any new communications satellites to provide this service. There are plenty of great commercial assets already on orbit and a lot more on the way. Leveraging existing commercial satellite networks saves time and money for our customers,” continues Barnett.

“The Deke Space Communicator is a persistent, bi-directional critical data relay that provides narrowband communications. It is small, lightweight, space-hardened, and designed to be installed on a broad range of spacecraft from satellites to space stations,” says Paul Frey, Director of Product Development, Solstar Space. “The Deke Space Communicator is a perfect solution for IoT applications, medical monitoring for crew and research, command and control, and for persistent management of on-orbit payloads and experiments. Deke is also a great communications solution for redundancy. We expect to fly our Deke Space Communicators as early as 2023,” continues Frey.

The Deke Space Communicator honors NASA astronaut Donald “Deke” Slayton, one of the original Mercury 7 astronauts. Learn more about the Deke Space Communicator.   

Media Inquiries | Lisa Dreher | lisa@guideforce.com | +1 425-442-1301

Investor Inquiries | Brian Barnett | barnett@solstarspace.com | +1 505-389-2299

Business Inquiries | Paul Frey | pfrey@solstarspace.com | +1 505-389-2299

ABOUT SOLSTAR SPACE

Solstar Space is the leading commercial space-based connectivity company pioneering the use of persistent communications services for all types of on-orbit assets including satellites, space stations, launch vehicles, and more. We provide an internet connection between spacecraft and Earth-based payload managers, satellite operators, and enable orbital and suborbital communications for crewed missions.

Our fast, reliable services, space-tested routers, Wi-Fi access points and hotspots, and space-based satellite data relays are being developed to deliver on-orbit persistent connectivity and are supported by 24/7 customer care. These devices are installed on satellites and spacecraft prior to launch to keep crew, spacecraft, and Earth-based satellite operations teams connected. Visit https://www.solstarspace.com.Â