A video of a lunchbox-sized satellite terminal sending a message from a frozen road has helped a 38-person Winnipeg company secure a three-year supply framework worth up to C$42 million (about €28 million). Kestrel Arc Systems signed a memorandum of understanding with Turkey’s fictional Anatolian Orbital Directorate in September, following months of attention sparked by the clip.
The video, posted in March, has been viewed 18.6 million times across two platforms, according to figures supplied by the company. The framework could cover as many as 1,200 terminals for field teams working beyond mobile-phone coverage, but the memorandum does not guarantee a purchase or revenue.
The clip from the winter road
The 49-second clip shows freelance telecom technician Caspar Berger placing the terminal on a snowbank near Thompson, Manitoba, then sending a short message while a phone beside it shows no cellular signal. Berger said he filmed the test during a company field trial, at -31°C (-24°F), and posted it to show how little equipment the link needed.
“I expected a few technicians to argue about the antenna,” Berger said in an interview. “I did not expect people in three continents to ask where they could buy one.” He said viewers included forestry contractors, remote clinics and small shipping firms, though the company has not verified every inquiry.
Kestrel founder Leslie Kuvalis-Hyatt said the clip brought 620 direct enquiries in its first week and a wave of requests for demonstrations. “The video made the product understandable in ten seconds: no tower, no big dish, just a box that still worked in the cold,” she said.
The video made the product understandable in ten seconds: no tower, no big dish, just a box that still worked in the cold.
Leslie Kuvalis-Hyatt, Kestrel Arc Systems founder
Kuvalis-Hyatt said the firm spent C$3.8 million developing the terminal and expects to hire 14 people if orders materialise. Its current output is about 90 units a month. The proposed framework could require production to rise to 400 a month, a costly jump for a company that has so far relied on private investment and smaller Canadian contracts.
A deal with conditions
Under the memorandum, Kestrel and the Anatolian Orbital Directorate will run technical demonstrations and assess demand from forestry, emergency communications and transport operators. Kestrel engineer Emirhan Bakırcıoğlu said the next test, planned for December, will examine signal reliability and battery life in cold conditions; commercial orders would require separate approval.
Sandro da Cruz, a Montreal-based analyst who tracks small Canadian manufacturers, said the agreement could provide a valuable route into export markets, but cautioned that a memorandum is not a purchase order. “The hard part is financing capacity before the customer commits,” he said. “For a small producer, even a promising framework can strain cash flow.”
The company says 11 Canadian operators have booked paid pilot trials since the clip spread, including forestry and utility firms. Those trials are small, Kuvalis-Hyatt said, and none guarantees a long-term contract. The company has not disclosed the price of an individual terminal, citing negotiations with prospective buyers.
For Berger, the online attention has been less important than the calls from people who work outside reliable cell coverage. For Kestrel, the coming winter will test whether a clip that travelled far beyond Manitoba can translate into repeat orders — and whether the factory can grow before those customers lose patience.
