The Introduction of Japanese Development and Demonstration of Inter-Satellite Optical Communication Network System through K-Program

Space Compass Corporation has been selected by New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) through K-Program that the Cabinet Secretariat, the Cabinet Office, and other relevant ministries and agencies of Japan have established as the Key and Advanced Technology R&D through Cross Community Collaboration Program, together with our partners as a consortium, the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT), Axelspace Corporation, and NEC Corporation, to move forward “Development and demonstration of inter-satellite optical communication network system Project”. This project’s goal is to establish the cutting-edge technologies to build the most advanced global scale optical communication-based satellites constellation network. The project will boost Japan’s competitiveness in rapidly growing global market and invigorate industry-wide growth in Japan. To this end, we will develop centralized network orchestration system, optical/optical and optical/radio frequency site-diversity, and adaptive optics function, etc. The project’s scope of work includes developing the optical communication-based satellites constellation network system along with space edge computing system, and conducting in-orbit demonstrations over Japan by FY2029. Space Compass will lead the project as a representative and perform a project manager role as well. In this project, each low Earth orbit satellite communicate with satellites in the same or neighboring orbits and optical ground stations by multi-optical terminals. Space Compass also plans to use own geostationary orbit satellites and Japanese Earth observation satellites to confirm interconnectivity and discuss commercialization. Also, Space Compass aims to establish interconnectivity between Japanese network and the other project outside Japan in terms of not only multi-vendor optical communication terminals but also the whole system.