Canadian satellite startup Kepler Communications Inc. said today it has closed on a $92 million round of funding that will help it build out its on-orbit data network for space-based infrastructure.

Today’s Series C round was led by IA Ventures, an existing investor that has backed the company since its initial seed funding round seven years ago. Costanoa Ventures, Canaan Partners, Tribe Capital and BDC Capital’s Industrial Innovation Venture Fund also participated in the round, which brings Kepler’s total funding raised to more than $200 million.

Kepler is building a satellite network that provides real-time and continuous internet connectivity for space assets, making space-generated data universally accessible. It says it’s building the web infrastructure required to support both the current and future connectivity needs of the space industry, using on-orbit satellites that enhance telemetry, tracking and commanding availability via intersatellite links. It aims to boost the capacity for mission-critical data to be downlinked back to Earth in real time.

“Exponentially decreasing launch costs make space more accessible than ever, but connectivity beyond Earth is still costly, challenging and inconsistent,” said IA Ventures General Partner Brad Gillespie.

The funds from today’s round will help finance the launch of several new satellites over the next year. The new satellites will join Kepler’s existing constellation that consists of 19 radio-frequency satellites that operate in what’s known as a “sun-synchronous orbit.” SSO refers to an almost polar orbit, wherein the satellite passes over any given point of the planet’s surface at the same local mean solar time. More technically, it is an orbit arranged such that it precesses through one complete revolution each year, so it always maintains the same relationship with the sun.

According to Kepler, it will launch two satellites on SpaceX Corp.’s Transporter-7 mission that’s scheduled to take off next week.

The company is aiming to complete a new optical relay network that will be able to deliver data at 2.5 gigabytes per second to satellites in low Earth orbit. To do that, it will place its communication satellites in two “near-orthogonal plans” in SSO, enabling continuous connectivity.

In this way, Kepler’s network will work like a terrestrial internet exchange, relaying in-space data in a similar fashion to how web traffic is exchanged on the surface. It will enable real-time data relays between ground-based missions and spacecraft, Kepler said.

Holger Mueller of Constellation Research Inc. said information technology players are just as involved in the new space race as rocket companies like SpaceX. “There’s a contest among startups to deliver the network infrastructure for space-based software systems, and Kepler is very involved,” he said. “It’s still early in the race, but the company looks to be in a strong position to play a role in extra-terrestrial connectivity going forward.”

Kepler Chief Executive Mina Mitry said his company’s mission is to power the future of space communications and ensure real-time, always-available access to space assets. “As we build out The Kepler Network, we are solving challenges the industry faces and simplifying mission communications by bringing modern Internet capabilities into space,” he explained. “Internet services on Earth completely transformed civilization, and we believe extending the internet to space will have the same far-reaching impact.”

According to Gillespie, while Kepler is currently focused on connecting assets in space and Earth, its network will one day expand to “Mars and beyond.”

Image: Kepler Communications