National Institute of Information and Communications Technology ( NICT ) is Japan’s sole National Research and Development Agency specializing in the field of information and communications technology. It is charged with promoting ICT sector as well as research and development in ICT, which drives economic growth and creates an affluent, safe and secure society. Free-space optical communications have the potential to bring the bandwidth of optical fibers to moving platforms, greatly enhancing their communication capabilities. This communication technology has already become mature after numerous demonstrations during the last few years. Free-space laser communication is expected to play a key role to cope with the demanding bandwidth requirements of 5G (and beyond) networks to support an increasing number of wireless terminals disseminated throughout the world and generating an unprecedented amount of data. For this purpose, practical and versatile lasercom systems will be necessary to
Amazon's Project Kuiper is an initiative to increase global broadband access through a constellation of 3,236 satellites in low earth orbit (LEO). Their mission is to deliver fast, affordable broadband to unserved and underserved communities around the world. A post on Amazon explains: Project Kuiper started off as an internal code name for the program—and it stuck. The name refers to the Kuiper Belt, a region of the solar system that exists beyond the eight major planets. The Kuiper Belt itself is named after the late Dutch astronomer Gerard Kuiper, who is considered by many to be the father of modern planetary science. Project Kuiper is a long-term initiative. Our FCC license requires that we deploy and operate at least half of our satellite constellation by July 2026. We’re preparing to launch our first two prototype satellites in early 2023, and we expect to provide service to the earliest Project Kuiper customers by the end of 2024. This marketing video is a good explainer o