Xenesis, an Illinois-based company, is preparing to install an Optical Communications Hub for customers of Bartolomeo, Airbus’ external research platform on the International Space Station (ISS). The company plans to ship the Xen-Hub optical flight terminal to Airbus in November for launch on an ISS commercial resupply mission. After installation in February 2025 and testing, Xenesis will begin providing communications services by the end of the second quarter of 2025.

The Bartolomeo mission is significant for Xenesis as it marks a full-blown commercial agreement with a prime contractor. All ISS tenant agencies, companies, and residents will benefit from using the 10 gigabit per second connection.

Through the Bartolomeo service, Xenesis intends to demonstrate Optical Communications technology for Intercessor, an optical mesh network for data backhaul. A miniature version of Xen-Hub will allow small satellite builders and operators to utilize a 5 gigabit per second persistent link for live data transfer. This could be valuable for government agencies involved with border security, enabling swift interdiction at any point of intrusion.

Airbus subsidiary Tesat has also been working on establishing a high-capacity optical terminal to speed up data transfer from the ISS to the ground. The optical communication solution provided by Airbus and Xen-Hub will open up broadband data downlink capability on the ISS for multiple users in parallel.

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