Super-speed Internet satellite blasts off in Japan

CNN ^ | 2-23-08

[krb]

the satellite would offer speeds of up to 1.2 gigabytes per second.

Oh I thought they were talking about something else. :-)

[CarrotAndStick]

Japan launches Kizuna satellite, hopes it will deliver high-speed internet

Posted Feb 23rd 2008 2:28PM by Darren Murph
Filed under: Networking

 

Granted, most of us here in America would turn our noses up at receiving in-home broadband via satellite -- after all, cable and DSL seem to be treating most of us quite alright -- but Japan is hoping to provide access to more regions in Asia-Pacific with its recently launched Kizuna. The experimental satellite is not yet intended for commercial use, but if all goes well, it will enable data transmissions "of up to 1.2 gigabytes per second" at a low cost across Japan and 19 other locales in Southeast Asia. Unfortunately, we've no idea when it will escape the bondage of testing and actually be put to good use, but at least Japan's well on its way to actually establishing that wireless island, eh?

[Via CNN, thanks to everyone who sent this in]

http://www.engadget.com/2008/02/23/japan-launches-kizuna-satellite-hopes-it-will-deliver-high-spee/

 

[kinsman redeemer]

(Used without permission.

[cerberus]

I like this. When Katrina hit here we had no landlines, no cellular and no internet. With a generator, satellite internet and voip, I would have been in business.

The key is cost. I am hoping that this will help to bring the cost of satellite internet down and the speed up.

[Spktyr]

You might get higher transfer speeds, but you’re still looking at a minimum 250ms or so latency which will screw anything that involves streaming - like VOIP.

[flat]

i’d like the service to be free....subsidized by a cut in
redundant social services patently extant in nations world wide...howzat?

[wastedyears]

No thanks, I prefer landlines.

[MediaMole]

This would be a great option for a backbone provider that pre-caches files locally.

An organization like Akamai could transfer large multimedia files to a local server in a place like Guam or Okinawa using the satellite, then serve them to home users from a local server.

[Southack]

So, 50 years...a half century...after Sputnik...how many nations can orbit their own satellite?

Japan
Russia
India
China
EU
U.S.
Israel

Anyone else?

[Spktyr]

That’s pretty much it. Space costs a lot of money, mostly because it’s been a government monopoly until recently.

We still don’t have viable private-sector-only satellite launching systems.

[m1911]

Yep.

Geostationary orbit = 35,786km up
Speed of light = ~300,000km/sec
voice travel from you to satellite = .12 sec
voice travel from satellite to ground station = .12sec

250 msec total would be very fast or absolutely minimal switching and routing.

Everyone has seen actual satellite conversation - on CNN or Fox with a remote reporter. “Over to you Jim”... pause ... pause ... pause “Yes Bill, it’s quite hot here!”

[TommyDale]

"You might get higher transfer speeds, but you’re still looking at a minimum 250ms or so latency which will screw anything that involves streaming - like VOIP."

Exactly! There is no way around the 186,000 miles per second limitation. Assuming the satellite is stationary at 22,400 miles altitude, one only needs to calculate that round trip time.

[Reeses]

Except that this communications satellite is in low Earth orbit, only 175 miles up. There will be no latency problem.

[TommyDale]

And you will never see that speed at upload... it will be asynchronous — Low upload speeds, higher download speeds.

[TommyDale]

You might want to ask Motorola about their great low-Earth orbit project.

[Reeses]

The Iridium system is still in operation, $6 billion in assets bought for $25 million. Motorola badly managed the business but the idea is sound.

Japan is a virtual superpower and this is really intended to be available for military purposes if needed. They don't need to turn a profit. Japan must do all it's military research under cloak of commercial applications.

[John Jorsett]

Except that this communications satellite is in low Earth orbit, only 175 miles up. There will be no latency problem.

They'll have to launch a bunch of them, then. On the plus side, this means the service could potentially be available worldwide.

[MarineBrat]

Except that this communications satellite is in low Earth orbit, only 175 miles up. There will be no latency problem.

What happens then when it's below the horizon?

[MarineBrat]

Except that this communications satellite is in low Earth orbit, only 175 miles up. There will be no latency problem.

What happens then when it's below the horizon?