The Arctic Region Communications small Satellites (ARC-Sat) is a new mission concept under development that will help the International Community with data communications relay, Maritime Domain Awareness and environmental awareness. With the Arctic emerging as a national and economic security interest, ARC-Sat will help the International Community to plan and execute cooperative security activities. ARC-Sat is a multi-agency initiative that will launch a micro-satellite with a cluster of communications relay cube-sats for enhanced regional communications and an Automatic Identification System (AIS). ARC-Sat will also contain a Data-X system for improved Maritime Domain Awareness and data-extraction from unattended sensors, as well as a Search and Rescue (SAR) beacon receiver for location and identification of vessels and personnel in distress. ARC-Sat will integrate AIS data and expand communications coverage to support international SAR efforts in the Arctic region. The project will also demonstrate satellite fractionation to enable long-baseline interferometry from a low-earth-orbit.